"I can't believe you stole that. Or tried to anyway."
Charlie felt Duncan's power wash over her and went numb. Miles was going to have her head for this if she didn't play the warlord's game in just the right way. "I didn't realize it was not mine to take," she stated, dropping to her knees. Connor followed, tugging his father down with them.
"The hell is going on here?" Bass demanded. The Mathesons were the strongest clan. End of sentence. No one in the other world messed with them. So why would a meager warlord like Duncan Page have Charlie Matheson on her knees?
"Huldra," Connor breathed, apparently knowing something Bass didn't. Given the amount of time he'd spent in The Other World, it wasn't that surprising.
"They're guardian spirits," Charlie explained quickly. "Beautiful women who appear and seduce men to coming back to their caves. They aren't known for being very friendly." She noticed the tuff of fur peeking out from behind her legs. "You can know them by their tail." Duncan's glamour began to peel off and the otherness of everything around them started showing through.
The tent they were in was actually a cave, no doubt where the spirit made her home. It was clear that the many soldiers making up her "clan" were in fact her thralls. Probably culled from nearby villages. Duncan's tail flicked back and forth in excitement at her new find. Her eyes were the dark amber of a wolf in hunt and her nails had grown into claws. There was no mistaking her for a human now. "Sometimes the humans are let free but they often feel the need to return to their captor," Connor added in a low voice. He and Charlie exchanged a look. This had been a set up for a very long time.
"Forgive my impudence," Charlie murmured, eyes trained on the ground. "But I thought your kind preferred to stick to the forests."
"We do," Duncan agreed. "But my lands were burned by some wayward missiles. I had to run and start over. No one questions a powerful woman with dedicated mortals in the Wastelands. I can hide right out in the open."
"And you've done so well," Connor agreed. "I doubt any witch would have the power to guess what you were without outside help."
Duncan let out a pleased hum. "You've come for something. What is it? Matheson's are not ones to ask favors when they can easily conjure up whatever they require."
"For this quest we must be unnoticeable," Charlie explained. "Our magic brings awareness and we cannot be found out."
"Tell me more," Duncan instructed as she studied them intently.
"The Patriots have been made aware of magic and it's users," Connor supplied.
Duncan gave an unconcerned shrug. "All sorts of rulers know about us. That doesn't' mean anything. Let the humans sort this out. My kind have better things to do than worry about the plight of some mortals who can't be bothered to know their leaders better."
"They are taking over at an alarming rate," Charlie insisted. "They have already found a few with the spark. My own grandfather, who made deals with devils, is on their payroll. Or was before my uncle turned him to our cause. They will soon find a way into the other world. And then we will all be in trouble."
"Raise your eyes," Duncan ordered. Charlie looked straight into the strange and wild eyes of the spirit. "Do you believe this to be true?"
"With all my heart," Charlie nodded.
"And your grandfather, will be betray your confidence?"
"My uncle owns his debt now. He dares not go against Uncle Miles. Even demons can't compare to our power."
Duncan's tail slowly flicked back and forth as she thought. Then she moved to her thralls, picking out five of them. "She is your leader now," she ordered. They nodded and moved behind Charlie. "I can't give you more than this now," Duncan explained. "I have to retreat to my own Underhill and build my power. I'll send you more soldiers when the time is right."
Charlie was about to thank her when she remembered the old fairy tales. "Your generosity knows no bounds," she replied instead. "My uncle will be told of your great help to our cause."
"See that is," Duncan smiled. She turned and led her thralls away, the magic covering their tracks.
"We start should start back home," Connor said. "War isn't going to wait for us."
"How come she didn't' come with," Bass frowned, still staring at the spot where she disappeared. "She could have been a big help to us if her powers are as great as you say."
"Oh they are," Charlie told him. "I could feel them when she dropped her cloaking magic. But she won't throw her lot in with us."
"Why not?" Bass insisted.
"Because she can't show favoritism toward any one coven or family," Connor explained. "She runs the risk of being seen as a servant. Giving too much to Miles would make him able to claim that she serves this family. No spirit wants those sorts of chains on them." He leaned down to pick up John and set him on Heracles. "She'll send us her soldiers when the time is right."
From high above, Schrodinger let out a shriek to tell them the way was clear. "And we need to hurry," Charlie added. "The Patriots are searching for us too, you know."
Bass sighed. He was never going to understand all the rules that were part of the Other World and those who lived in it. But they needed the magic to beat the Patriots. So he'd learn what he could to pull off a win. It was his world too now.