Yeah, she had a sworn oath to slaughter those Pips, but she had an investigation to continue, and the investigation held a lot of immediate problems as stake.
Why the hell did Darkstar have vampires in their headquarters, though?
She followed the pull of the amulet. If it was acting up, it had to be getting weak. Abigail could only imagine how fiercely and elder fae like Jilliup was fighting to get free, and Abigail had to figure out something before she was out. There was no way she could deal with a Pip infestation, a shadow organization tied to some scary sounding otherworld, the rescue of her father, AND a council member ready to outright kill her before she could let the rest of the council know that she was their mole. Well, one of their moles, at least. Abigail had a feeling that Jilliup wasn't the only one.
Tess followed Abigail down the corridor. "You alright, Abigail? You keep touching your belly..."
Abigail sighed. "Yeah, there's vamps in the other direction."
Tess stopped. "Vamps? As in vampires?"
Abigail nodded. "Yeah, little bloodsuckers that also burst out of people's chest. They're the worst, and there always seems to be a nest of them hiding where you least expect it."
Tess frowned. "What does that have to do with your stomach?"
Abigail lifted a finger to her lips as the closed in on. a corner. They could hear some murmuring. She took out a little mirror from her pack to peer around the corner. There was one of the men in black suits, sitting at a desk with his back to her. He spoke in a low voice into the telephone. Abigail strained to hear what was being said...
"Put your hands up."
Abigail and Tess both did as the male voice from behind them demanded. Tess hiccupped. Normally, her weird thing for hiccupping when nervous was low key adorable. It certainly hit a little different as Abigail turned slightly to see another man in a black suit with a gun to Tess' head.
"Agent L, I seem to have apprehended intruders."
The man who was at the desk hung up the phone, stood, and turned to approach the ladies. "Good job, Agent M."
He walked closer, getting a look at the two. "How did two boring mortals like this deal with Jilliup? She was supposed to kill them before she disappeared. I imagine they know her whereabouts. Take them to the back room. Get them to talk, then feed them to the vamps."
Agent M began to nod. Mid nod, he stopped.
Agent L moved closer. "Agent M?"
"Ladies, close your eyes. This will be unpleasant." A woman's voice resounded from an unseen source. Tess shut her eyes tightly. Not Abigail. She wasn't afraid.
It was as if the shadows moved strangely. One second, Agent L had a head. The next second, he didn't. Agent M seemed to drop deeper into a stupor, his gun falling from his hands.
As Agent L's body fell to the ground, a shorter woman was revealed, her dark hair loosely falling onto her shoulders, her red eyes glimmering in the light. She wore a light sundress, which revealed the hooves she had instead of feet.
Recognition crossed Abigail's face. "You're from the council. You're Paltis."
She smiled a toothy smile. "It's good to meet you again. Though, I must say, this does reveal my presence to Darkstar. So much for my investigation."
"Can I look yet?" Tess' voice squeaked.
"Oh, dear, the unpleasantness isn't done." She turned to Agent M, who still stood silent and still. "I have some information to acquire. And I hunger. There are plenty of evil hearted men for me to hunt out there, but they so rarely wander into my domain now a days. There was a time when dark hearted hunters came into my forest regularly..." A strange crow like bird on her shoulder squawked. Was that there the entire time, Abigail thought?
Abigail nodded to the fae woman before her. "I am quite interested in finding out why Darkstar is trying to open the gates to the Everdark. I think that they have the Kelpie King that reigned before my father. They seem like they've been around for a long time. I just don't understand..."
"Hmm..." Paltis' eyes glowed a bright red, "Let me see what this guy knows..."
Agent M's mouth began to move, at first without making a sound. Words began to come out like breathless gasps. "Everdark... Reign of night... In exchange for power... Power to become rulers..."
He began to struggle. "Oh dear," said Paltis, "I'm afraid this one is starting to figure out how to break out of my control. This is so much trickier here in their lair instead of in the presence of my trees." She walked over and kissed him.
This was not the move that Abigail had expected. As Paltis continued to kiss Agent M, his eyes grew wide in horror. He struggled, but began to go limp as his eyes sunk into his face. His skin turned gray and his muscles spasmed until they went very still.
Paltis dropped his very dead body, licking her lips as one does after a very good meal. She turned to Abigail. "What brought you down this hall anyways?"
Abigail frowned. "I have Jilliup trapped. She is definitely one of the traitors. Something was calling her trapped spirit here."
Paltis' face darkened. "I should have recognized that she was a sympathizer of the Everdark. Sometimes the most dangerous predators are the ones you don't expect. Give me her trapped spirit, so I can take her to the Council for justice."
Abigail paused. She noticed that Paltis no longer had a bird on her shoulder. Where the hell did that go? Was Paltis trustworthy? Why would Jilliup try pull her towards Paltis? Or was there something else in the room that was pulling Jilliup in this direction? What was she going to do about the horde of Pips down the hall? Could Abigail say no to a Council member? How did Paltis get in there in the first place? How much longer could the spirit trap hold Jilliup?
"Can I open my eyes yet?" Asked Tess.
👍LIKE THIS POST for Abigail to hand the spirit trap containing Jilliup over to Paltis
❤️ LOVE THIS POST for Abigail to think of a distraction or an excuse to hold on to the spirit trap until she knows who she can trust
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