Chapter 2

He shook her hand. "Thank you," he said politely as he couldn't say he was happy to be here and he hadn't thought of this city as home since he left for college for the first time. He quickly pushed that thought away. "Was all this necessary?" he said, gesturing to the skyline. "You could have just given me the location orders for the crime scene or headquarters."

"The Council thought differently," Rose said in a business-like tone. "They felt teleporting you here would give you some fresh perspective on what you left behind," she said and began to walk to the antennae. "The crime-"

Reid stood his ground. "Let me make something extremely clear right now," he said angrily. "I have no interest in joining the Guardian-"

Rose turned around. "I am in charge of apprehending a meta-UnSub," she said impatiently. "You have been summoned to assist with the investigation and that is all I care about. I have no interest in your relationship with the council."

Reid nodded. "Okay," he said quietly. They began to walk to the antennae. He was extremely grateful that Clara Rose was leading the investigation. She was a promoted transfer from Orlando for her work in developing an effective security system for the Harry Potter theme park. Her mother is mortal, and she is a fully-trained FBI agent in addition to being part of the Guardianship. The other "agent" is a battle-scarred wizard who considered him as a "disgrace."

Rose began to speak to herself. "While we're here maybe we should-"She suddenly turned around again. In one swift motion she pulled the pin in her circular brooch out and it transformed into a metal wand. She aimed it at him and a ball of blue fire burst out.

Reid pulled off his scarf using both hands thrust it in front of him. The spell hit the scarf and he concentrated to hold to the power. He pulled both ends and a stronger form of the spell bounced back at her. With a single flipping action the circle in her brooch became a shield. The spell bounced off it and the energy was dispersed. Reid grabbed one end of the scarf and whipped it to the ground. The ground shook so violently Rose fell to the ground. He quickly ran to her and pulled the cane out of his bag. He aimed it at the glowing end at her throat.

A smile crept across Rose's face. "I surrender," she said mildly.

"So do you feel comfortable with me being in the field?" he asked. He knew his powers would be tested eventually and understood Rose's reasons.

Rose dusted herself off as she got up. "Guardianship is the formal name for magical law-enforcement in this country. But I do not want to be considered the 'guardian angel' of a single agent," she said matter-of-factly. "Now I think…"

…

The last victim lived on the outskirts of Somerlin. The single-story house looked like it hadn't been well maintained.

"Developers have been trying to force her to sell for years," Rose commented as they ducked under the crime scene tape marked with invisible charms. "The neighbors we interviewed barely concealed their delight in hearing about the woman's death. It means they can finally create their perfect façade."

They managed to preserve the crime scene extremely well given the even though the death had happened more than twenty-four hours ago. Sixty-year old white-haired Katherine Ravenwood was laid the couch in sleeping position on her couch. He kneeled down looked at how the blood from the neck wound was absorbed by the cushion. The tally mark was visible just below her yellow print top.

Rose had been watching Reid examine the victim. "So does this look staged to you Dr. Reid?"

So far Reid had been enjoying doing what he did regularly. Now he had to stop and analyze the negative energy that is only produced by magic. He closed his eyes and could almost feel the panic the woman experienced during her last moments. He had to stop before he fell farther. He looked up at Rose. "Yes. Everything about this was staged," he said softly.

"Explain how," she said.

"Guardian Rose I make assessments based off physical evidence. Don't you have wizard agents to trace magic energies? And where are the rest of your agents?" He asked as he realized he hadn't seen anyone else in the house.

"They are more occupied with what is in her basement," she said. "It is interesting how none them thought the murder was staged."

"What about you Guardian Rose?" Reid asked.

"Please simply address me as Rose. Given the blood pattern on the couch, it looks she was asleep when the meta-UnSub slashed her throat and then carved his signature. But Katherine Ravenwood was such a light sleeper she could literally hear a bird landing on her roof."

"You knew the victim?" Reid asked with interest.

"An old family friend," she said quickly. "We're getting off topic. Explain how the murder was staged Dr. Reid."

He opened his bag and pulled out his glasses and beads. He put on the glasses and could instantly see the path of violence. He quickly looped the beads around his wrist to prevent the dark forces from the invading his subconscious. Though he could not see the person behind the attacks, he could see how Katherine put up a brave fight using her old wand and a set of crystals that seemed to have disintegrated on impact. She was ultimately incapacitated with a stab in back of the neck as she struggled to get into her kitchen.

Reid pulled off his glasses, gasping for air. He looked up at Rose. "You're looking for an omega level dark wizard with some demonic heritage."

Rose nodded with approval. "And the 'tally marks?'"

"I think you already know that it is a Celtic rune symbol. The common root word is 'killing.' I think the marking is a diversion to attract the attention of non-wizard law enforcement as it looks like a generic UnSub signature."

Rose looked genuinely impressed by his rapid analysis. "Very good Dr. Reid. The general consensus was that the Ogham was a distraction. The trace reside from the cut indicated that a simple non-ceremonial dagger was used. He sliced her throat with a knife of un-known mythical origin. What we could not determine was the nature of the meta-UnSub."

Now it was his turn to ask some questions. "So what is in the basement that has the full attention of your agents?"

Rose looked grim. "Let me show you," she said and walked over to the built-in bookcase. She pulled her wooden wand out of the breast pocket of her blazer. "Old traditions die hard," she murmured as she tapped a leather-bound copy of Macbeth. The shelf shifted to the left, revealing a series of stone steps spiraling the downwards.

"I'm afraid I haven't been completely honest with you Dr. Reid," Rose said as she led him down the dimly lit passageway. "You were summoned because you are very popular among the half inherited magic population."

This was news to Reid. "How do people know about me? I haven't used magic during my tenure as an FBI-"

"Do you really think the Oracle Monthly covers only practicing wizards?" Rose snapped. "Technically The Guardianship is part of the FBI. A separate edition is sent out to the magical population to keep the readers informed on whom to turn to if the Council government collapses."

Reid wanted to learn more about the subject. The Council is the governing body of the magic population in the United States and the capital is Las Vegas (It moved from New York when the Civil War started). It is only connected to the non-magical government through the FBI for one simple reason: People don't ask as many questions. The FBI is often perceived as a mysterious organization that is not easily penetrated. The idea was reinforced the Men in Black movies (he infuriated Morgan when they watched it together one time and explained the technical aspects). He had his reasons for hating the governing tactics of The Council, but he never thought about why others might not trust their government. He suddenly realized that Clara Rose might have revealed something she shouldn't have and decided not to press further.

The steps led farther down than possible based on his knowledge of the ground composition. Rose glanced back at Reid as they walked. "Katherine Ravenwood went to great lengths to hide her magic. If anyone asked, she was an artist first and an American spell work analyst second."

They finally reached the bottom of the steps. It was large a white-painted stone room with tables full of artifacts and standard magic equipment.

Before Reid could look further a group of five agents dressed in black suits and blue striped ties rushed to greet him.

A young sandy haired agent held out his hand. "It is such an honor to meet you Dr. Reid. The way you saved your agents from that blast-"

"Agents calm down!" Rose said as if she was addressing a group of school children. "Dr. Reid is here to consult on the case. Give us some space please," she said.

The agents quickly separated to allow Reid and Rose to examine the back wall.

Reid stared it with a mixture of horror and amazement. Every stone was covered runes written in the medieval style of straight lines that resembled variations of the M shape. All the clusters formed names.

Reid turned to Rose. "Are all those-"

"Names of the half-inherited magicians in the Las Vegas area. We decoded enough names determine to make that definite assumption. We have three major problems: We lack the sufficient power trace the unknowns. We also do not have enough man-power to protect the others."

"And the third?" Reid asked.

Rose nodded at the wall. "You see your name on the wall Dr. Reid. Recite your full name. The name your mother gave you that seals your powers."

Reid felt like he had been hit by a battering ram. He closed his eyes and clutched bracelet. This was too much. He had been tricked. Deceived into helping with a problem that required more than just his profiling skills. He felt tears escaping his eyes.

"Dr. Reid," Rose said softly. He opened his eyes and saw a look of genuine sadness on her face. She touched his shoulder gently "I-"

Reid brushed her hand off quickly. He couldn't handle her pity at the moment. He couldn't handle how much a non-local apparently knew so many of his family secrets. "It's okay," said croakily to her and returned to looking the wall.

He regained some of his composure and cleared his throat. He stared directly at this name said in a firm voice:

Spencer Mordred Reid

The various rune symbols glowed silver. He connected the symbols in a left-to-right pattern. He couldn't recite the message. The memories of words written in blood, the explosion, and his mother flashed through his mind. He closed his eyes tightly again.

"Dr. Reid," Rose said again softly. "A member of the Order of the Fisher King is the meta-UnSub."