Courts and Cabals by G.S. D'Moore (best e reader for academics txt) 📕

teeth as Joe opened the door and ushered us through. He wouldn’t be joining us.

The space we stepped into looked nothing like the place where I’d fucked Chloe.

***

 

“We’ve lost visual, switching to IR,” the surveillance team sent over the net.

“Roger. We go on my mark,” Vernon and the rest of the strike team stood in the alley opposite the drug store.

He checked his phone for the millionth time, but he still had nothing from the Director. All the warrants were in place, and they had full legal standing to take everyone involved in this unsanctioned duel into custody, but there was still no result on Dupree’s gene scan. That was weird. It was supposed to be done days ago at the latest. Ideally, he’d take the kid into custody with those results to back up his case, but . . .

“I can’t wait any longer,” he sighed.

They’d watched the Fae’s changelings arrive roughly an hour before, but there was no sign of the noble Fae or her knight. Knowing their ability to teleport, he doubted they’d ever get visual confirmation. That was a problem, and one they’d have to deal with to make this mission a success.

They wanted to nab everyone in one fell swoop. The entry plan was simple. The call had gone out to the sheriff’s department once the cabal’s people started moving away from the school. They were to lock down all ingress and egress routes from Joe’s Pizza Joint after the targets moved inside. They weren’t a crack department, so Vernon figured another five minutes and they’d be in position.

All traffic was being stopped and every transmission monitored. If anyone tried to blow the lid off this raid, he’d know about it, and they’d prosecute accordingly. It didn’t matter if it was the mundane sheriff trying to warn the school’s Dean. The old man would find himself on the wrong side of a UN tribunal.

“Is it always like this . . .” Becky practically danced from foot to foot where she stood behind him. He could smell the adrenaline in her veins. He didn’t trust anyone else to be the first through the door, but he also didn’t trust anyone else to have his back.

The strike team was shifter heavy; so, they had a lot of strength and speed to bring to the fight. They lacked magical support. Vernon’s own magic was a force multiplier for himself, but he couldn’t cover the rest of his team. They had the one mage, but he doubted she’d be able to last long against a noble Fae.

More importantly, Vernon had not been allotted any additional cold iron ammunition for the rest of his team. They had quad rounds, but he was the only one packing a lethal punch; which was another reason he was going to be the first through the door.

For what they were going up against, the hope was there wouldn’t be any shooting. No one wanted an inter-realm incident with a child of The Nine. They hoped the warrants, and risk of fucking up their future, would be enough to get these kids to stand down. Aside from the knight, he continually reminded the rest of the strike team that the targets were kids. Extremely dangerous kids by any standard, but still kids.

“They’re on the move down the side hallway,” the surveillance team kept him abreast of the situation.

“Sixty seconds,” he announced, and put a calming hand on Becky’s shoulder. She had an automatic shotgun at the low ready, and Fae knight or not, that shit was going to do some damage with quad buckshot. “You’ve got this,” he squeezed her shoulder, looked her in the eyes, and smiled. “We’ll go in, take them down, and then I’ll treat you to a nice dinner.”

“Pizza and beer?” she cocked an eyebrow.

“You’re the perfect woman, you know that, right,” he shot back, but refrained from kissing her in front of her brother. The game warden shifter was armed with an M4, and Vernon didn’t want to give him a tempting target. Vernon was still grinning as everyone did a final check on their weapons.

“Shit . . . I lost them!” the surveillance tech sounded pissed and confused. “One second they were there, and the next . . .”

“Go . . . go . . . go . . .” Vernon yelled, and charged across the street.

Main street was empty with everything blocked off, so the police and UN agent moving in a tactical column didn’t meet any resistance, or have gawking civilians live streaming the whole thing on Facebook. He didn’t slow down when he hit the door of the pizza place. He just punched it with his gloved fist, and the glass shattered.

“Police! We have a search warrant!” he yelled, as he moved toward the side hallway. He trusted the team to clear the room.

He posted up at the corner before peaking around and down the hall. It was empty. He hit a rune on the back of his hand, and a magical pulse ricocheted down the space looking for magical traps. He found nothing.

“Ready,” Becky smacked him on the shoulder, and he led the way down the hallway with his Colt drawn and cold iron ammo ready to take out anything that threatened them.

“Door on the left,” they shifted to the other side of the hallway. He tried the handle, but it was locked.

“Ready?” he asked the team as they stacked behind him.

“Set,” the team echoed their readiness.

He took a step to get in front of the door, and smashed his big-ass foot right next to the knob. The door shot into the dark space beyond like a missile, and he followed it in as fast as he could.

His Colt swept the room, but unless the shitter and sink were packing heat, there was nothing there that