Cameron Haley - Mob rules

Rashan laughed. "Bullshit, Dominica. You want it bad. Even when I made you my lieutenant, you felt sorry for yourself. You always felt like you were just a serving girl, always running around doing things I could just as easily do for myself. Well, now you know the truth. I need you, Dominica. I always have."

"So what is my role, exactly?"

"You're my wartime captain. In the old days, I would have called you my champion. As far as the coming war is concerned, you're in charge. You make all the decisions, you give the orders and your word is final. I'm available to advise you, at your discretion."

"My discretion?"

Rashan sighed again, but this time he sounded more impatient than old. "Yes, your discretion. As I said, your word is final. Even if I'm the one disagreeing with you."

"What if I want to change the name of the Men's Room?"

"Don't even think about it. That has nothing to do with the war."

"Just kidding, boss. Okay, I'm in. So advise me. What do I do next?"

"You tell me. You're in charge."

"Okay, I'm in charge." It felt good. I took a deep breath. "Well, the Seelie Court is still going to try to come through. We don't know exactly when, and we don't know exactly what they'll do when they come, but at least we know where. The gate in Hawthorne is the key. That's where we have to attack."

"And how will you attack?"

"I'm too tired to dick around with them. We mobilize in Crenshaw and fight our way into Hawthorne. We hit the gate. If we can take it down, the Seelie Court can't come through. That way we don't have to fight them block by block, house by house, down on the street."

"Yes," Rashan agreed. "But you have to move quickly. King Oberon will send small tactical teams through to seize territory and lay down their own tags. He won't send an army at first, and you must use the window of opportunity that gives you."

"Why won't he send an army?"

"For the same reason we avoid such overt action. Think, Dominica. This world is changing, but it's not ready for that change. How do you imagine the U.S. government would react if a fey army invaded L.A.?"

I didn't know. I couldn't even imagine it. It would escalate slowly, because the politicians and generals wouldn't be able to make any sense of it. Maybe just the National Guard at first, to deal with a wave of "illegal immigrants." The Marines would follow, and then…who knew? What would happen when they had to admit the illegal aliens weren't human and they were using magic? What would happen when the lid was finally popped off the underworld for everyone to see?

"It could get pretty ugly," I said finally. "Like, total breakdown of society ugly. But it would get even worse. Once it became clear L.A. had really been invaded by magical beings from another plane of existence…no options would be off the table."

"Exactly. And King Oberon didn't wait all this time to eat a nuke the moment he finally makes it back."

"So, no army."

"Right. Not at first, anyway. Not until he's established himself here and consolidated enough power to sit down at the negotiating table as an equal among the nations of this world."

"That's what he wants?"

"Of course. Long ago, even before my time, Arcadia was an empire that stretched from what is now Greece to the British Isles."

"Arcadia. I thought that was just the fairy name for our world."

"It is. For King Oberon, our world and his rightful kingdom are one and the same."

"That's ambitious."

"Yes, but he has to bide his time. His kingdom will not be built in a day. As you've discovered, he is exceedingly patient."

"Is he evil, boss? I mean, what he did to you…"

Rashan was silent for a time. "You will drive yourself mad trying to answer such questions," he said finally. "You've learned how difficult it is to apply such categories even to sorcerers. Let it suffice that different rules apply to King Oberon, just as they do to us. Never doubt, he is capable of great cruelty-but also great kindness and beauty. Perhaps such balance is the only thing to which any of us can aspire. Perhaps we must leave good and evil to mortal men."

"If you say so. Anyway, we just have to take out the gate. That's his Achilles' heel. It's the only reason he really needed Papa Danwe. For everything else, he could have used his own minions if he'd had to. But he needed someone in this world to throw open the door and let him in." Just as Honey had needed me.

"I concur," Rashan said.

"I'll take a few guys to hit the gate. I'll mobilize the rest of our soldiers and hold them in reserve, just in case some of those tactical teams slip through."

"I think I chose well, Dominica."

"I better get down to Crenshaw, boss. When he finds out his changeling is dead and his plan has gone sideways, Oberon will move fast."

"There's one other thing."

"What's that?"

"Perhaps you didn't tell me the truth about your relationship with Adan, with the changeling, because you thought I wouldn't approve."

I didn't say anything.

"You should know that if you're good enough to be my champion, you're good enough to be my daughter. It would have made me proud."

"Thank you, sir." I had to fight against the sudden tightness in my throat to get the words out. I thought there might be a lot of other things I wanted to say, but I didn't have the guts. I switched off the phone and put it away. Thirteen "I'm coming with you, Domino!" The pixie dust was flying off Honey like Kansas topsoil in a tornado, and most of it was deep red.

"I said no, Honey. This isn't your fight. I could never have made it this far without you, and you know how much I appreciate it. But I'm going to war with your king. I can't let you put yourself in the middle of that."

"I'm already in the middle!"

"You can stay here-all of you-for as long as you want. I'll protect you and your family. But you're not coming with me."

Honey started singing in that strange language of hers. I couldn't understand any of the words, but suddenly I understood why she had to come with me.

"Oh," I said. "Yeah, I guess you're right. You have to come with me. You can help. If I try to do this without you, I'll just get myself killed."

Shaking her head in disgust, Honey flew up to me and blew green pixie dust in my face. Why had I just agreed to let her come with me?

"I just put a glamour on you, Domino."

I shook my head, trying to clear out all the pixie dust that seemed to be dancing around in there. "Jesus. Kinda like the Jedi mind tricks I use on bouncers."

"And I didn't have to release you from it if I didn't want to. I only did that because we're friends."

"Yeah, thanks. So like I was saying…"

"No, Domino. Don't you see? You had no protection from my glamour. You'll be helpless against the Seelie Court. You're not prepared for fairy magic. You need me."

Honey had a point. How was I supposed to fight the fairies if the bastards could drop spells on me right through my defenses? I looked over at the soul jar where it still sat on the living-room floor.

"Don't even think about it, Domino!"

I went over and picked up the soul jar and sat down on the couch. I looked at it. I looked at Honey.

"No, Domino!" Honey screamed.

I shrugged and opened the lid. I let the juice of my three fallen soldiers evaporate out into the air. I only took the changeling's juice. I tapped it just as I would tap the ley line under my building, but I didn't spin it into a spell. I just took it all in, letting that bone-cold juice seep into my mind and soul.

I knew how to do it, but I'd never squeezed anyone before. It had never come up. It wasn't like learning a new spell, or even learning to use magic for the first time. It wasn't like learning at all. When it was over, when I'd sucked every last drop of the changeling's juice out of the jar, I just had his magic in me.