Chapter Eight.

Elaine ran her fingers through her graying brown hair before tying it back into a tight ponytail. The student she had just finished training was a handful, and she was looking forward to the session with her favorite student the day next day.

Making her way out of her apartment and downstairs to her shop, she opened business once more. Her student and coworker, Suzanne, was unavailable, so Elaine had to close up when it was time for a lesson.

No sooner had Elaine returned behind her brand-new counter than someone entered the shop. Tall, with dark brown hair and dark green eyes, he moved with a lethal grace as he flipped the sign on the door and approached her counter. He looked to be around thirty years old, though Elaine knew he was much older than that.

Elaine tapped a knot on the wooden wall behind her, activating privacy magics so thick, it would take someone with the power of a god to break through.

"Derrick," she said tersely. "This is my territory, and I've caught your traffickers on it four times in the last week. Do I need to keep killing them?"

"I'm moving into Tejina," Derrick said. "From what I've heard, there are plenty of young magicians ripe for the picking. Other than the Blood, we are taking over the city's trafficking. That includes this area. If you want me to keep my men out of it, you need to meet my demands, when I make them."

"I don't work for others," she folded her arms across her chest.

"No," he smiled. "You run your own trafficking circle, acting as if you're a regular member of it. How many of your students have mysteriously vanished after one of your lessons, or once they stopped visiting you?"

"Enough," Elaine responded.

"In a couple of weeks," Derrick said. "We will be having a rather large slave auction. It will occur on the winter solstice, and it will take place in this area. I want you to provide five mages for it. Try to get at least two force mages. One is required. We're running rather low on them lately."

"And if I don't have enough who are qualified for it?" She asked.

"Then find some youths," he said. "And break them so their powers manifest. Do you have any prospective targets?"

"Two," she stated. "Both youth, both on the streets. One is a blond-haired boy named Cameron, the other is a son of Refari named Greyson. Cameron isn't a student of mine, but he's a mind mage. Catching him will be difficult, though."

"Cameron?" Derrick frowned. "Around twelve or thirteen, hears voices?"

"You know of him?" She asked.

"He's a Thornton, leave him alone," Derrick stated. "Going after him isn't the brightest idea, ever since he was rescued from Titania a week ago, he's had the Hound of the Line guarding him."

"The what?" She asked.

Derrick stared at her in disbelief. Nearly the entire magical community – at least, those who had any form of standing in any part of it – knew about 'Cam' and his power, and the arrival of the Hound of the Line whose sole duty seemed to be protecting the younger demigod.

"An ancient and powerful demigod who fought in the War of the Line," he explained. "A single sneeze from him could level Tejina if he wanted it to. Leave Cameron alone, unless you want to anger a being none of us can stop."

"Greyson, then," she said. "He's a nephilim with decent healing magic abilities and knows a bit of combat as well."

"Son of Refari, you said?" Derrick asked, and she nodded. "If you go after him, make sure you don't leave any clues as to what happened. His biological father has been spotted in town several times lately, and his step-father, his mother's husband, is the head of the Anti-Fae Task Force. We've had our eye on that boy the last few weeks. If you can grab him, we'll consider him to be three of your required slaves."

"Understood," she said. "I'll make sure that there's no trace of his kidnapping leading back to me. It's been known he's a nephilim ever since the fairies attacked that warehouse – I'll make it look like someone else went after him for nephilim parts."

The organs, blood, wings, and feathers of a nephilim were powerful magical components, and due to the rarity of nephilim, they weren't easy to obtain in the magical underworld. Leaving a young one unprotected wasn't the brightest of ideas, and the trafficker was surprised that no one had made a move on Greyson yet.

"Good," Derrick said. "If you don't manage to catch him, that's fine. You're still required to grab five by the auction. If you have to take from other members of your organization, then do so. Meet that, and we'll leave your area alone. Don't, and we'll continue to hunt in it. Leave the teleporter alone as well."

"The one from the arena?" She asked, and he nodded. "Why?"

"He's evaded my people," Derrick said. "Fourteen of them have died trying to capture him. If you went after him, he'd likely slaughter your organization. Combined with Cameron, he took out a Fairy Lord."

"Understood," Elaine nodded, surprised by the boy's apparent skill for someone who claimed to have been ignorant of magical techniques when they met.

"I must be going," Derrick said. "I have other business to attend to. Remember – have them captured, collared, and ready by the solstice, or we'll return to your area for the hunt."

He turned and left the store, the privacy enchantments lifting, and the old mage made his way down the street. As he passed by an alley, he noticed a figure huddled on the ground, an old blanket wrapped over them as they pressed into the shadows.

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While homeless people weren't ideal slaves, once they were broken and their magic awakened, they were useful in some regards. Derrick made his way over to the huddled figure and crouched down. The figure tilted their head down further, preventing the trafficker from seeing their face.

"It's rather chilly out," Derrick said. "Do you want a place to stay? It's free of charge, and we'll even give you some good food."

"Oh, I don't need that," a cold voice said, and the face lifted up.

In that moment, Derrick's entire body was paralyzed as he stared at the handsome, flawless face with a smile, fury in the brown eyes staring back at him. The figure stood, revealing his seven-foot height and lethal aura. His golden-blond hair was cut at a medium-short length and styled to the side. A pair of pure-white wings were tucked behind the figure, having previously been hidden by a manipulation of light and shadows.

The angel was dressed in a pair of orange and black board shorts, showing off his muscular calves and torso. From around his neck hung a leather cord with twenty small beads on it, a series of woven bracelets on his wrists and around his ankles.

"I heard you were investigating my daughter," the angel said, not a trace of his aura detectable to the mage. "I don't like it when evil people look into my offspring."

Derrick's terror rose as he realized who he was facing, but it was too late to change the past. He wasn't one of the few mages in the universe with such a power.

His last moments were spent in agonizing pain as the shadows around him began to devour his flesh, the mage unable to utter a sound as his voice was consumed.

With the endangered daughter of his protected from the slaver, the angel cracked his neck, then wrapped himself back in an illusion as he made his way down the street, passing by the young demigod he had heard so much about. He liked that demigod based off the rumors he had heard of him. The demigod's bodyguard, the Hound of the Line, briefly glanced at him as they passed by each other.

"That's interesting."

"What?" Cam looked up from the list in his hands to give his cousin an inquisitive look.

"We just passed Refari."

"We did?" Cam twisted around, scanning the street. "I don't see him. And I can't sense him with my mind. Did we really just pass Greyson's birth dad?"

"Yes," Callum said. "He's cloaked himself in illusions."

"Angels can do that?" Cam asked. "I thought they were healers?"

"They are," Callum answered. "Though ancient or powerful ones can often wield light as well. Refari is an Angel King, however."

"I thought angels only went up to archangels?"

"Normally," Callum nodded. "An Angel King is rare, though. There are thousands of gods with archangels. There are only around twenty Angel Kings. An Angel King has ascended far past where an archangel can ordinarily reach. There are three of them in Tejina at the moment. Refari, Isulv, and Nekal."

"Who?" Cam gave him a confused look.

"I just told you," Callum answered. "Refari, Isulv, and Nekal. Don't worry, none of them are hunting you. Your friends with one of Refari's children – he was a dozen or so of them in the area, and he has a strong paternal protective instinct. Isulv tends to stay out of wars, and usually only involves himself when he's annoyed, typically only to the people who annoyed him directly. Nekal… is a complicated matter. But he's not your enemy, either."

"Greyson has how many siblings?" Cam asked, and Callum snorted at the thing the younger demigod had fixated on.

Not the fact that there were three powerful angels in the area during a war from the heavens over him, but that his friend had a lot of siblings.

"Around a dozen or so in the area," the ancient demigod answered. "Many ancient beings, including angels and gods, have permanent residences here in Tejina. It's a melting pot, as your people call it. Refari is one of them."

"Oookay," Cam said. "So what else is different about Angel Kings?"

"They often have powers unavailable to even archangels," Callum answered. "Force magic, which most archangels can use, but also each of the elements and an affinity for nature. Some, like Isulv, can also use necromancy and scourge magics. Refari, Isulv, and Nekal are all capable of manipulating space as well."

"That sounds cool," Cam nodded, and Callum gave his cousin a curious glance.

The boy seemed distracted by something, and his right ear was cocked.

"What are the voices saying?"

"While you're out, you should really get Jenna a present."

"Yeah, a nice dose of cyanide will teach her to abandon you again."

"No, he should get her chocolate."

"He'll probably just eat it all."

"Yeah, probably, he's starting to unlock the taste for it that all of his father's children has."

"He should go meet his brother. Well, re-meet, since he technically already knew him."

"Oh! That's a good idea!"

"Yeah, Cam, you should go meet up with him."

"He's probably dying to meet you."

"Kris hasn't told him who you are yet, either, just that he found you here."

"The look on his face will be priceless!"

"I still think getting a present for Jenna would be better."

"Nothing," Cam answered with a poker face. "They're being completely and absolutely silent right now."

Callum snorted, letting his gaze and mind wander around the street. He was always on alert around his cousin, as he didn't want to risk angering Ulrima, though the little demigod had grown on him over the last week.

Being around so many people made him uneasy. There was always danger around, and he would rather take Cam somewhere quiet and remote. The boy had somehow convinced his father to kick the Department of Supernatural Services and the organizations from other worlds and realms out of the Fae Forest's realm and put a few angels in it and a ward on it to protect it from outsiders.

It was a powerful ward, too. Callum needed specific permission to enter, and was pretty sure that his uncle had personally crafted it.

Cam's personal realm would be a good place to protect the boy. No one there was his enemy, mostly because they all served his father.

Yes, perhaps Ulrima wouldn't be furious if he kidnapped the boy and kept him in the realm until he was older and more matured in his magic.

"Here we are," Cam pulled Callum out of his thoughts, an irritated expression on his face. "I don't like this place, but it's the best one I know of for magical reagents. She probably has everything we need."

Callum nodded, then followed his cousin into the mage shop. There were potions and enchanted items everywhere, and the shop even had anti-theft enchantments placed around it, in addition to potent privacy words. The shop was enchanted heavily enough that most mages and magical beings would have a different time discerning between the magics floating through the air.

"Cameron?" Elaine gave the young demigod a nervous look. "I thought you didn't like me?"

"I don't," Cam huffed. "But Callum wants to make a potion to help me sleep. I've been having nightmares ever since the fairies kidnapped me, and it's hard to sleep when I do actually manage to try. So he wants to make a strong sleeping potion, something potent enough to take out a demigod and keep me from dealing with the nightmares. Adam was unavailable and Eden didn't really know of a normal magic shop, and you're the only one I really know of."

"There are a few others on this street," she began.

"Yeah, but you're the only one I know," Cam huffed. "And as much as I don't like you, I know you have lots of magical reagents. So here we are. And here's the list of things Callum wants. Do you have everything?"

"If something doesn't exist or isn't available in the area," Callum glared at Elaine as she took the paper Cam held out. "Let us know the alternatives. It's been a long while since I was around, so I don't know the actual supply availability."