Chapter 93
Hotch sat back down on the floor and while he tried to get comfortable, the being in the long cloak moved to the bars and then slid down them to sit directly in front of Hotch. He tried to studied it without being too obvious, and when his eyes roamed over the dark recesses of the draped hood, he saw light blue eyes staring back at him.
The being reached up and folded the hood back to reveal what Hotch thought was an older human man. He had a rounded face, longer white hair, and a matching beard.
Hotch's eyes grew as he mentally cringed. Jesus Christ! Did they capture Santa Claus? As soon as he thought it, though, he mentally shook his head. Santa? Really Hotchner? Who are you going to see next? The tooth fairy or the Easter Bunny? He mentally huffed and looked the man over again. Well, he certainly looks like a stereotypical Santa but there is nothing jolly about this man. The man's face looked haggard and his eyes held a sadness in them that made Hotch's heart clench in sympathy.
The man's eyes roamed over Hotch and then trailed to his wrists, and he frowned as he traced the chains up to the ceiling. When his eyes moved back down and locked with Hotch's, Hotch shrugged, but the man gave him a small grin and held out his hands. "You're not the only one shackled, young man." Just visible beneath the wide sleeves of the cloak were wide, copper wrists bands with what Hotch thought were runes on them.
Hotch frowned. "Those keep your abilities away?"
The man nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."
He spoke with a heavy accent. "German?"
The man smiled again. "Correct again."
"Are you human?" Hotch asked because he knew that just because his face and hands looked it, that that didn't mean anything in the world of the supernatural.
"I am."
Hotch studied his face some more. "But you're more than that," he led. He wouldn't think the warlock would capture a normal human and bring him there, but he couldn't think of any abilities that a human would have that would need restraining.
He man took a deep breath. "You could say that."
"What are you?"
The man glanced around and made sure no one was paying them any attention. "A wizard."
Hotch's brows shot up for a second in shock. "You mean. . . like Merlin?"
The old man laughed for a few seconds and then a wide smile spread over his face. "You have no idea how happy that made me, young man. Normally, now adays, when I tell people that, the first one they compare me to is Harry Potter."
Hotch shrugged. His whole family loved the Harry Potter series. He'd even read s a few of the books with Joey, but at the time, they were just too farfetched for him to really get into them. Now that he thought about it, though, he had to wonder if Rowling knew a lot more about the world that he was now privy to. Hell, she might not even be human. He mentally shook his head and thought back to his own childhood and the library he would escape to every chance he got. "I used to love reading about the adventures of Wart and Merlin," Hotch admitted.
The man smiled some more. "Merlin was one of our founding fathers, if you would."
Hotch frowned. "So what's the difference between a wizard and a warlock?"
The man's brows rose as he studied Hotch some more. "You're new to all of this, aren't you?"
Hotch took a deep breath and nodded but lowered his voice. "Very new."
The man winced. "Sorry. I can't imagine how awful all this must be to someone not used to it, and to end up here," he continued as he gestured around him. "You poor man."
Hotch huffed. "Yeah, my luck just keeps getting better and better."
A pathetic laughed escaped the man as he shook his head. Then he took a deep breath. "My name is Gaylord."
"Aaron."
"And as for your question, the biggest difference is what we draw our powers from and the intent while using them." Hotch's look told him he wasn't understanding, so he took a deep breath and tried again. "A wizard gets his power from nature and the world around him. A warlock uses spells to create his power."
"Ahh. I think I get it," Hotch offered. "And by intent, you mean one is good and the other is evil?"
The shrugged. "There are good and evil in all things, but it seems like a majority of wizards are aligned to the good side."
"The warlock is extremely evil."
"Das arschloch is very powerful!" he yelled.
Hotch could just imagine what that word meant, and the disgust on the man's face confirmed his thoughts. "Yeah, I've had the unfortunate pleasure of experiencing his power personally."
The man suddenly sat up and leaned closer to Hotch. "You've seen him? You've met him?"
Hotch frowned at his surprise, but he nodded. "When they first brought me here and a few times since then."
The man slowly sat back against the bars as his eyes bore into Hotch.
Hotch mentally frowned at the scrutiny and he shifted under the uneasiness of it. It was obvious by the man's shock that he hadn't gotten introduced to the warlock, and Hotch wondered if he had been the oddity or if the wizard was.
Gaylord took a deep breath. "We've been after him for over a hundred years."
That made Hotch sit up more. "But he's human, how. . ." He shook his head. "Is he immortal?"
The wizard huffed. "Not naturally. He steals it from those he keeps prisoner. That's why he works so hard to capture them."
Hotch tried to swallow the guilty feeling that was creeping up his chest. Oh my God. No wonder he wanted my blood so badly. To think that he was inadvertently helping to keep the vile man alive made his stomach turn, and he mentally winced as he imagined that his blood, a supposedly alpha's blood, would probably keep him alive for many more years. Son of a bitch!
XXXXX
Kahlan sighed as she watched the feed on the monitor in front of her, and Cameron put his arm around her and gave her a gentle squeeze. "You know he's eating and chatting with them to get to loosen up. He'll get down to business with them as soon as he feels it's right."
She nodded. "I know."
"Because we can't just go charging in there with guns blazing. . ."
"Because we don't even know if they have any of the information we seek," she finished for him. "I know, but you know I'm not a patient person."
He laughed. "And that's putting it mildly."
After a few minutes, he noticed her wiping her cheek, and his heart ached for her. He took a deep breath. "Come on, woman, have some faith in the meathead. He'll do it."
She sniffed and smiled. "I know. Chuck always has our backs."
He nodded but studied her. "Then what's wrong?"
She huffed. "You mean other than my husband missing again?"
His eyes narrowed as he studied her. "It's more than that."
She nodded slowly as she reached down and fidgeted with the lace on her tactical boot.
He grabbed her chin with a tender hand and made her look at him, and when another tear dripped down her cheek he cringed. "Come on, this is me you're talking to. You know, your other best friend, a man who has known you for over twenty years."
Her face scrunched up in emotional pain. "It's my fault. . . again."
He sighed and pulled her to his chest and then wrapped strong arms around her. "No, Kay, it's not. Whoever took him from that damn alley is to blame."
She shook her head as she pulled away from him. "But I'm the one who asked him to stop and get ice. If I hadn't done that, if I hadn't forgot to get it. . ."
"But you didn't tell him to stop at that specific store, Kay. If you are saying that stopping at that store is to blame, then you're blaming Hotch because he's the one who chose to stop there." He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "And you don't really want to be blaming him, do you?"
"No! Of course not! He had no clue. . ."
"And neither did you," he interrupted and then wiped the tears from her cheeks. "How about instead of guilt, you turn that to anger, and we get these sons of bitches?"
She sniffed, and after a few seconds, she smiled. "Don't worry, there's plenty of anger building up. When we find them, they'll wish they were never born."
He laughed as he nodded. "Now that's the Kay we all know and love."
She huffed.
"And the one we're all a little scared of," he added with a grin.
She shook her head and shoved him back towards his computer. "Shut up, Cam."
XXX
After eating, talk at the bar table turned to hunting, and one of the women looked at Chuck. "So where did you first run into this vamp?"
"Down in Georgia, outside Atlanta," Chuck told them without hesitation.
One guy whistled. "Damn that pretty far to be tracking it. What's so hard about killing it?"
Chick smirked. "Damn thing looks like some teenager, he blends in. . ." He shook his head in disgust. "Last damn place I lost him was in Richmond at a fucking mall!"
One guy almost spit out his drink of beer as most of them started laughing, and Chuck shook his head.
"Sorry, man, but that sounds. . ."
"Pathetic, I know," Chuck offered and then huffed.
"Now, guys, be nice," Chandler ordered. "We've all had one or more monsters get the better of us."
"Oh yeah," the lady agreed and then hit the guy next to her. "Some of us more than others, huh, Randy?"
"Stuff it, Lisa! You know shapeshifters are hard as hell to get, and it ain't my fault that over half of the things I hunt turn out to be one!" he insisted and they all laughed.
Chandler looked at Chuck. "Have you tried Dead Man's Blood on an arrow? That has worked for me a couple times."
Chuck studied him a moment as if considering it. "That might work," he offered even though he had no clue what that was.
The waitress brought another round to the table and looked at Chandler. "Can you settle up now, hun? I'm about to clock out."
He smiled as he reached for his wallet. He pulled out a hundred-dollar bill and handed it to her with a big grin. "Give Smitty a ten and you keep the rest."
Her smile lit up her face. "You always take such good care of us, Chandler."
Once she walked away and talked turned to other hunting things, Chuck leaned close to Chandler. "I don't mean to pry, man, but how the hell do you afford that? You come from old money or something?"
Chandler smiled as he shook his head, and after taking another drink of his beer he gestured to the others at the table. "Whenever any of us need a little cash, we sell the monsters instead of killing them."
Chuck frowned as he studied them all. "What do you mean, sell them?"
XXX
Out in the van, Kahlan and Cameron's conversation abruptly stopped and they both leaned in closer to the consol. They knew from the akka that the hunters had paid her, so it was only logical that somebody was paying them.
XXX
"You've never worked with a harvester before?" Lisa asked with wide eyes.
Chuck shook his head. "No." He wasn't sure if he should admit that he had no idea what that even was or not.
"You know there are only a few of them out there, Lisa. Very few hunters know about them," Randy offered.
That made Chuck relax a little. "What's a harvester?"
Chandler made sure no one else in the bar was paying them any attention and then leaned closer to Chuck. "They take monsters and sell the parts that are worth money."
"And they make a lot of money doing it," Lisa put in.
"Parts that are worth money?" Chuck asked as he looked at all of them.
"Yeah, you know, like the parts that other people are willing to pay money for, like hair of a werewolf or horn of a goblin, that sort of thing," the man next to Chandler explained.
"Things that can be used for spell ingredients or things that people just want," Lisa told him. "Hell, I know a guy who wanted a werewolf mounted and a harvester was able to make that happen."
"In fact, vamps bring a pretty penny. Harvesters love getting them," Randy offered. "You should do that with the one you're tracking."
Chuck frowned. "Why are vamps so valuable?"
Chandler smiled. "Cause they're immortal, duh. They can take shit from them over and over again without killing them. Immortals are the perfect monster for harvesters."
Chuck swallowed and was glad none of them could hear his heart because it had started racing. Fucking hell!
XXX
Cam tensed once he realized Kahlan was holding her breath, and he turned to her. "That doesn't mean. . ."
"That's exactly what's happened! That's why they haven't killed him yet!" she roared as she stood, because spiking anger would not let her sit still, but she hit her head on the ceiling of the van causing her to cuss and lash out at it.
Cam winced and just stayed where he was as he watched her storm out of the van after slamming the door open and then shut, and his heart sank. Oh, Hotch. . . Son of a bitch!
XXX
Chuck quickly swallowed down his anger and looked at Chandler. "And how does one get in contact with these harvesters?"
Chandler reached into his back pocket and withdrew a card. "Here's the one we use. Just tell him I sent you, he'll hook you right up."
Chuck took the card with a grin and nodded. "Thanks, man. I know exactly what to do with this."
