About 30 minutes later they all walked into a very packed Cours Bar. For a small town, the bar itself was quite expansive, surprisingly chic and contemporary in its design. The three-level bar had a dance floor at the center, and the seating outlined the dance floor on all three levels. While there were serving bars on each level, only the first level had serving bars that lined the walls.
"Wow!" Dyson said.
"Thought you might be walking into a shithole?" Nick asked. Dyson bent his head slightly to the left. "Yeah, it surprised me too when it first opened a while back. Brings a bit of the City life out into the country. Smart idea to design it this way."
"You wouldn't know it looked this way from the way it looks outside." Reed said.
"Incognito works. Keeps only those who should really know about it as customers. Draws in a lot of business though." Nick replied.
"Clearly." Dyson said then his nose crinkled. "I can smell wolves everywhere."
"This is a popular spot for the Mutts even though this is a Human bar." Nick replied.
"Do the Humans know there are werewolves in their midst?" Tamsin asked.
"Only those who serve them in some capacity." Nick replied.
"So, this can turn out to be a bit of a hunting ground?" Dyson asked. Nick see-sawed his head.
"Your hunt for this relic couldn't have come at a worse time." Clayton said.
"Why? What's going on?" Dyson asked.
"For the past several months we have been seeing increased incursions by the Mutts not only on our territory, but in general." Clayton replied.
"And they seem to be more focused and organized in their efforts." Elena added.
"What's been their pattern in the past?" Dyson asked.
"The usual attempts to challenge Jeremy's authority as Alpha." Clayton replied.
"Does that happen often?" Tamsin asked.
"Pretty much." Elena replied.
"Is that normal?" Reed asked.
"Our governing rules allow for it." Clayton replied.
"How can you govern if you're challenged all the time?" Reed asked.
"It's exasperating for sure." Nick replied.
"Let's spread out to see if we can find this Marcus." Elena said. "Clio, let's take the top floor and work our way down."
"I'll go with you." Tamsin added.
"Me three." Julia added as she, Elena, Clio, and Tamsin all headed for the top floor of the bar.
"Someone should watch the door." Dyson noted.
"I'll take that one." Erik replied.
"You have Clio's description of Marcus?" Reed asked.
"Yep!" Erik replied and then turned and headed for the front door.
"You wouldn't begrudge a woman a little snack, would you?" Aoife asked.
"Yes!" Dyson and Agent Chennai said in unison. Aoife sighed.
Clayton suddenly furrowed his eyebrows and reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell phone, looked at it then answered it.
"Yeah?" Clayton greeted with one finger in one ear due to the loud music. "What?" A full minute passed then Clayton looked straight at Aoife. "Understood." And then Clayton hung up the phone. "We need to get back to Stonehaven."
"What's going on?" Nick asked.
"It seems there's a visitor waiting at Stonehaven." Clayton answered then looked straight at Aoife. "For Aoife."
"Who is?" Aoife and Agent Chennai asked in unison.
"This Rumlar." Clayton answered. That made everyone straighten up.
"We need to go." Aoife said.
"I'll go with you." Clayton added.
"Me too." Nick added.
"No. I need you to stay here with Elena." Clayton said.
"No, YOU need to stay here with Elena. Help catch this other guy, Marcus. I'll go deal with whatever's going on at Stonehaven." Nick replied.
"I need to go with you for sure." Dyson said.
"Your Excellency, I've got this." Agent Chennai replied.
"That's Rumlar you're dealing with." Dyson said.
"Incorrect, Your Excellency. It's Rumlar dealing with me." Agent Chennai replied. Dyson nodded his head.
"Keep us posted." Dyson said as Nick, Aoife and Agent Chennai all left. Dyson then pulled out his phone and sent a text.
"You still carry a flip phone?" Clayton asked.
"I like to keep it simple." Dyson replied as he tapped along. "There! I let Tamsin know what just happened. Let's find this Marcus."
On the third level of the bar, Elena, Julia, Clio, and Tamsin all walked the bar area looking for Marcus.
"Boy! For a small town, this bar is huge!" Tamsin commented.
"It draws in people from all over." Elena replied. They had just finished walking the third floor of the bar and were about to make their way down to the second floor when Julia stopped.
"Does this place have any secret rooms? You know, for their special patrons?" Julia asked.
"Good question." Elena replied. Elena then surveyed the area, sniffed into the air and found a target. It was a casually well-dressed man who was sprawled back on a couch with several women drooped all over him. "It doesn't hurt to ask." Elena added as she sashayed her way up to him and pushed her way through drooping women and sat on his lap while Julia, Clio and Tamsin stood off to the side and observed.
"So, where can a girl really party around here?" Elena asked as she drew close and inhaled deeply along the man's face.
"Elena Michaels!" The man greeted then waved away the other drooping ladies then looked straight at Elena. "Yes, even I know about the only female werewolf, and let's just say it is a pleasure to meet you in person."
"Thank you." Elena replied.
"So! What are you? Lost?" The man said matter of factly.
"No. Just hungry." Elena said as she stroked one side of his face. "Just blew into town and let's just say I'm famished." Elena replied.
"I take it you're not talking about the complimentary nuts that come with the bottle service?"
"If you paid $1,000 for bottle service only to get nuts you should flay the owner of this establishment alive."
"I thought your Alpha frowned on...snacking?" The man queried with a glint in his voice.
"He's not here, is he?" Elena countered.
"Elena Michaels! What a rebellious she-wolf you are!" The man said.
"You have no idea." Elena smiled. "So, where can a girl get a snack around here?"
"I see we are on the same page then." The man replied as he stood up and took Elena's hand "Come with me."
The man led her down the stairs to the second level. Elena glanced back at Julia, Clio and Tamsin who followed discreetly behind. Then man led her through a door and then entered a back area where staff were performing a combination of cooking, moving, and storing things about. They went though another door which opened to a small hallway and to an elevator. The man pushed the call button and the doors opened immediately. They got in and as Elena turned around to face the elevator doors, she saw no sign of Julia, Clio or Tamsin following her, and became concerned. The man pushed the button for the sub-level and the doors quickly shut before them.
"This place has a sub-level?" Elena asked.
"Several. They were built so our activities could be discreetly hidden. As well as disposed of." The man replied.
"Obviously." Elena commented.
"I hope you are truly famished. They always have quite the offerings." The man said. The elevator doors opened to a short hallway and they both stepped out. The man guided Elena to another set of doors. There was a code panel and he punched in a code.
"Well, this is all very James Bond." Elena said. The man smiled and when the doors opened to an expansive room Elena didn't know whether to be shocked or horrified at what she saw and had to fight everything in her being not to put her hands up to her mouth in response. The man guided her through the doors and they quickly shut behind them. The room itself was large, shaped in a circle, had dark woods, soft lighting, a bar, long seating tables, and plush red couches spaced throughout the room. But what was horrifying was the carnage. Parts and pieces of human carcasses were strewn about. Blood dripped all over the place as the Mutts feasted while classical music played in the background.
"See! I told you. Quite the selection." The man said.
"This is a den." Elena replied.
"Now you're getting it." The man said.
"How do the Mutts have den operating in this area to this degree?" Elena asked. But before the man could answer another man walked up, his hands interlocked in front of him, his bearing ramrod straight, he wore an impeccable double-breasted blood-red burgundy suit with a black shirt and a red tie knotted in the Windsor fashion. His shoes were wing-tipped and matched the color of his suit.
"Mr. Morgenson." The elegant man greeted. "It's good to see you visiting our establishment once again."
"Concierge! Good to see you as well!" Mr. Morgenson replied.
"How's business?" The Concierge asked.
"I needed this before I have to return to the bustle of New York City." Mr. Morgenson replied.
"Hedge Fund Market running you ragged?" The Concierge asked.
"You have no idea." Mr. Morgenson replied.
"What do you do?" Elena asked her escort.
"I structure loans packages for large-scale infrastructure projects, mostly in excess of $3 billion or higher." Mr. Morgenson replied. "Concierge, this is…"
"No introductions needed. Ms. Elena Michaels. I would say 'welcome', but I am not entirely sure why Mr. Morgenson brought you down here?"
"She was hungry, and so am I." Mr. Morgenson answered.
"I thought the impeccable Jeremy Danvers frowned upon such activities as these?" The Concierge queried.
"And yet, here I am." Elena replied.
"And yet here you are." The Concierge returned. "Mr. Morgenson, why don't you let me take it from here. I'll show Ms. Michaels around. Your usual table has the usual fare, and it's a fresh kill. Please, go enjoy yourself."
"Yes! Plump girls from the Southeast are so very tasty!" Mr. Morgenson said then loosened his tie and scurried off. The Concierge then turned and faced Elena.
"I can see the revulsion on your face. You are not here to feed, are you? At least, not like this." The Concierge said.
"How can you tell?" Elena asked.
"While Mr. Morgenson is dumber than a box of rocks and can be influenced by the..." And proceeded to look Elena up and down, "slightest distraction, I, however, cannot be. Also, it's my job to ensure discretion is practiced, so while you are here you do realize I cannot allow you leave. Alive that is." The Concierge replied.
"Oh! Me leaving alive is exactly what's happening." Elena said.
"Such confidence!" The Concierge replied.
"Such is fact because, after all, I would be dumber than a box of rocks to come into this Mutts Den alone."
"You mean Professor Danvers and the group of friends you came in with?" The Concierge queried. Elena looked at him surprised. "I am the Concierge. My eyes need to be everywhere where this property is concerned. As far as your friends would understand, you went out a back door with Mr. Morgenson, and were never seen again."
"That would be easy to explain to the local muckity mucks, but it would be a little hard to explain to me." Clio said as she emerged from seemingly out of nowhere. Her sudden appearance startled Elena, but not the Concierge. In fact, he just took in a deep breath.
"Some sort of Ghost Fae, I presume?" The Concierge said matter of factly.
"How did you know I was Fae?" Clio asked.
"We all have our little bits of knowledge." The Concierge replied. "So, what pray tell are you two doing here?"
"We're looking for a Mutt. His name is Marcus. Blows into town every so often. Looks like..." Clio started.
"I know of whom you reference." The Concierge interrupted. "What for?"
"Do you care?" Clio asked.
"If you are to drag a clientele out of here by the scruff of the neck, so to speak, it would be prudent to know why." The Concierge replied.
"Trust me, this is not something you want to know why." Clio replied.
"And what if I refuse to assist?" The Concierge asked.
"If you know I'm Fae then you know I come from a world that would simply not care taking out this entire Den, and you with it. Is this Marcus worth losing your little set up here? Or your life?" Clio replied.
"I am convinced." The Concierge said then pointed to a far table in the corner surrounded by plush couches, full of Mutts gorging themselves. "Marcus is over there, but I would ask if you intend on taking him out of here, please keep it civil." Elena and Clio then headed over to the Marcus's table.
"Is this how life is around here?" Clio asked as she went.
"This is a Mutt Den, and no, it's not one that should be operating like this in our territory." Elena replied. "You don't have such barbarity in the Fae world?"
"I didn't say that." Clio replied.
They came upon the table as Mutts knawed, slurped and chewed on the assorted pieces of human flesh as if they were enjoying a chicken buffet.
"Marcus?" Clio called out. Most of the Mutts continued eating while some only gave Elena a casual glance, but one did turn around, and quickly glanced at Clio but when he saw Elena, his eyes went wide.
"You must be Marcus." Elena greeted. "We have some things to discuss." Marcus's eyes narrowed then he quickly jumped up from the table and bolted for a nearby exit.
"God! I hate when they run!" Clio said as she and Elena went in pursuit, but Marcus was able to get out of the room faster and a Security Guard stepped in front of them, abruptly halting their pursuit, and secured the door shut. Elena and Clio turned around to see all the Mutts in the room had stopped gorging themselves and some had stood up with pieces of meat still hanging from their teeth and blood dripped all along their shirts, and they all faced Elena and Clio. The Security Guard who blocked them at the door pushed them forward to the center of the room and as they passed some of the Mutts growled, sniffed and bared their teeth. The Concierge stepped forward.
"I told you Ms. Michaels. I couldn't allow you to leave here alive." The Concierge said then turned outward to face the surrounding Mutts. "Brothers! We have some uninvited guests! Please see to them!"
"Oh c'mon! Not again!" Clio said to a perplexed Elena.
As the Mutts prepared to pounce, a series of crashes could be heard all around them, and then a sudden blast from above that blew open the ceiling and in course, blew the surrounding Mutts on their backsides. Someone came though the smoke of the debris blast and landed in the middle of the floor, wings spread. It was Tamsin.
"Wow!" Clio and Elena said in unison. Tamsin's dramatic entrance had the intended effect for it awed the Mutts just enough for Tamsin to act.
"Let's GO!" Tamsin yelled as she beckoned Elena and Clio who ran to either side of her, Tamsin gripped her arms around them both then shot back up through the hole in the ceiling. Tamsin soared with them clinging hard until they reached the level where they first took the elevator down to the sub-level. They were met by Julia, Dyson, Clayton and Reed.
"How did you guys find us?" Elena asked.
"Leave it to Julia to be a little peeper." Tamsin replied.
"I wouldn't be a good PI if I wasn't." Julia added then went up to Elena and reached into one of her pockets. "I placed a tracker on you. Just in case."
"Smart." Elena replied. "Marcus escaped. And there's a huge Mutt Den down there."
"A Mutt Den? In here?" Clayton asked.
"I'll explain it all later." Elena replied then the elevator dinged.
"Uh oh. Someone might be coming up." Clio said.
"Can you stop that elevator?" Elena asked.
"We also need to plug this hole." Julia added.
"Leave that to me." Clio said then waved everyone back. Clio then bent down and with her right hand reached out to the door and an electrical current came out from her hand, hit the controls and stopped the elevator's ascent cold while with her left hand, she touched the ground and the ground suddenly destabilized and then closed up on itself. Elena and Clayton looked on in wonder.
"You are something!" Elena commented.
"Let's get out here!" Dyson said.
They ran outside to find patrons milling about engaged in excited conversations due to the explosion which rippled throughout the rest of the bar and caused patrons to flee. Emergency services were on site and so were the local authorities.
"There's Sheriff Morgan." Clayton said. "We need to avoid her."
They looked around for Dyson's vehicle as Nick took Clayton's to head back to Stonehaven and saw Erik waving them down. They went over to him.
"Glad to see you all are okay." Erik said.
"We are too." Julia replied.
"We need to get out of here before the Sheriff spots us." Clayton stressed.
"Gotcha! But before we go, I want you to know I caught a little something." Erik said as he went to the back of the car and opened the trunk.
"Marcus!" They all replied in unison.
"Yeah, I saw this critter making his way out the back and nabbed him. Had to knock him out for a bit. He's got a lot of blood on him though." Erik said. "Ya'll take him for a few rounds?"
"That's Human blood." Elena replied. "There's a Mutt den in the sub-levels, which we need destroy as soon as we can. That's something the Sheriff cannot find.
"I can take of that." Reed said and then pulled out his phone to make a call.
"Really? How?" Clayton asked but before he could answer Marcus stirred. Dyson reached into the trunk and shook Marcus awake.
"Hey! Hey! Wake up!"
"Eh! Quit jerking on me!" Marcus demanded.
"That will be the least of your problems if you don't tell what we need to know." Dyson said to laughter from Marcus. Dyson shifted his face and bared his teeth which made Marcus straighten up.
"What the…?" Marcus started to ask.
"We don't have time for this!" Dyson interrupted. "Where's the relic?"
"I don't know!" Marcus answered.
"What do you mean you don't know. We wouldn't be here with you stuffed in a trunk if we didn't know you knew where it was." Tamsin said.
"I mean, I don't know where it is specifically." Marcus said.
"What do you mean you don't know specifically?" Dyson asked.
"That's what I mean! I don't have it! Ehlnor has it!" Marcus replied.
"Who's Ehlnor?" Julia asked.
"Forest! That's we call him. Forest!" Marcus replied. The realization that Forest was Ehlnor made Clio stumble backwards and scan the group wide-eyed.
"I think I know exactly where it is." Clio said. "Or as close as exact."
"Where?" Tamsin asked.
"In the same tunnels where I battled the Monolith. That Monolith is Forest or Ehlnor or whatever the heck his name is."
"I gave him that name, by the way." Marcus said proudly. "Thought it suited him since that's where he hid."
"Hardly. Ehlnor is a Monolith. He is the Earth itself. He probably thinks the forest is pubic hair." Clio replied.
"He's a what?" Marcus asked.
"He's Fae!" Tamsin yelled.
"What's a Fae?" Marcus asked.
"Oh. Yeah. Right, you're a Mutt. You wouldn't know what Fae are." Tamsin replied.
"So then why is Rumlar here?" Julia asked which made Marcus chuckle. Dyson shook him again.
"What's so funny?" Dyson demanded.
"Who do you think hid this relic with Forest in the first place!" Marcus replied.
"Is that why he's here?" Tamsin asked.
"He's here to retrieve a few things as well as pay back a favor to our cause." Marcus replied.
"What cause is that?" Elena asked.
"Eliminate Jeremy Danvers and your entire flea-bitten pack!" Marcus spat. That made Clayton and Elena straighten up a bit. Marcus noticed. "Rumlar is already at Stonehaven."
"We know that." Dyson said.
"And my brothers are with him." Marcus replied as he laughed.
"What?" Clayton quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Jeremy.
"We need to move!" Elena said in a panic while Clayton was on the phone.
"We're going to need back up." Clio added.
"Dammit! No answer!" Clayton yelled in frustration.
"That's because they're dead already!" Marcus said as he laughed.
"Pray that is not the case, or you will surely become MY dinner!" Clayton replied then pushed Dyson back, gagged Marcus with a nearby rag, and then slammed the trunk shut.
"Do you have any friends around here who can help?" Clio asked Clayton and Elena.
"I can make a callout but I'm not sure if any of allied packs will respond." Clayton replied. Tamsin turned to Reed.
"Make the call." Tamsin directed. Reed nodded and then stepped away from the group.
"We need to make sure Marcus remains secure." Dyson said then turned to Erik. "Take him somewhere where you can keep him secure until we can question him further." Erik nodded.
"How are we going to get back to Stonehaven?" Clayton asked. "Nick took my car."
Dyson scanned the area around and he eyes fell upon a set of wheels, he smiled then looked back at Clayton and Elena.
"Do you two know how to ride?" Dyson asked.
"Yes." They both said in unison.
"Good! Because I see several Vyrus 987's we can borrow whilst everyone is still distracted." Dyson said then turned to Tamsin. "You, Julia, Clio and Reed need to procure a vehicle, head to Deapers Mountain and find this relic!"
"What about you?" Tamsin asked.
"I will help defend Stonehaven with Clayton and Elena until the calvary arrives." Dyson replied.
"Be careful! I just got you back in one piece!" Tamsin said.
"No promises." Dyson replied. "Let's get a move on."
END
