"It can't be anyone on the council," one of the women said, "or the lycans who work for us would have smelled her."

  "Good observation," Brandt said, then looked around at the others. "I don't know of anyone with black hair who's good with mind magic, do you?"

  "She may have dropped out of your council three or so years ago," Sean pointed out. "We suspect she's been possessed at least that long."

  "Nobody's left our council for decades," one of the men said. "She's either a solo magic user, or belongs to one of the smaller councils around here. We need to check our records."

  "Records?" Estrella asked.

  "We keep records of every magic user within a hundred miles," he said, and then smiled, looking a little embarrassed. "We're Eruditio; it's what we do. We've always kept track of the births, deaths, comings, and goings."

  "Great," Sean said. "And you would be?"

  "Cyrus. I think Madge and I can probably find what you need pretty quickly once we get back to our main council house."

  "Fine." Sean leaned his head out the door. "Hunter!"

  "Yes, Sean?"

  "Detail a group to escort and protect a couple of magic users."

  "Oh, you don't need to do that!" Cyrus said.

  "They've got radios that can reach me wherever they go," Sean said. "This is more for me than for you. Besides, last thing I want is to leave anything to chance at this point."

  Cyrus nodded and motioned to one of the women, who followed him out the door.

  "As for the rest of you…" Sean sighed and then shrugged. "Care to join us over at the NSA facility while we wait? We've got a couple thousand people we need to check to make sure they're not aligned with the djevels."

  "I've already sent our younger members over there," Brandt said. "Honestly, I think the rest of us would rather help out here if we're needed, then go home and back to bed until you find this possessed woman. None of us are youngsters anymore, Sean."

  Sean looked at his watch; it was after midnight.

  "How about coming back to the NSA and spending the night there? We've got the space, and honestly, I'm sure I can use the help when we find out who it is."

  "He did say she had a nuclear bomb, Brandt," the first woman said.

  Brandt sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right, Carol. Fine, let's head over there."

  "How long will it take them to get to your council headquarters?" Cali asked.

  "This time of night? Probably about forty-five minutes to an hour."

  "And how long to go through the records?"

  "Oh, only a few minutes, I'm sure. We keep it all on computers. Faster that way."

  "Sounds good. Travis, round everybody up and let's head back to the NSA. Have the police come up with anything worthwhile?"

  "A few blurry stills from one of the security cams down the block. They're spreading out to see if they can match it up with any of the better cameras on some of the shops in the area."

  "Great. Get some printouts, or have them sent to Oak or somebody so they can forward them to us."

  "Already working on it!"

  "Excellent. Now, shall we?"

  Everyone nodded, and Travis led them outside. There were a pair of cars parked that Sean could only assume the others had arrived in.

  "Is it okay if I ride with you?" Brandt asked. "With Cyrus and Madge gone, we're a car short right now."

  "Sure, just don't ask too many questions," Sean said with a smile.

  "Oh? Why not?"

  "Because Joseph will be mad at me for letting you ask them first, of course."

  "Oh, right, he's mentioned the way you like to tease him with ancient history facts. Mine are more to do with your spell casting techniques. I'm really impressed at your ability to build machines that can enchant objects."

  "So is everybody else," Sean agreed with a faint smile, "but don't worry, I'm not going to tell anybody else how I did it, either. Well, nobody who isn't a child of mine, a lion, or whom I don't have complete control over."

  "And why is that?"

  "Because magic users have a history of bad decisions," Sean said with a sigh. "Maybe in another 20 or 30,000 years, if you manage to get past that, we can share."

  "You are not going to win this argument with my husband," Cali warned him. "He has taken many oaths upon himself to see to it that his inventions do not bring more harm to the people of this world."

  "You did?" Brandt asked, looking at Sean.

  "Yup."

  "And who made you take them?"

  "My conscience."

  "Oh!"

  The Gift that Keeps Giving

  They were just pulling into the NSA facility when Hunter came on Sean's radio.

  "Sean! We got a positive ID on our magic user!"

  "What? How? I thought the Eruditio folks weren't back yet!"

  Hunter laughed. "You're not going to believe this, but one of the detectives lifted fingerprints off the safe while you were sleeping and ran them against their database. They called me as soon as they got a match."

  "What, is she a crook or something?"

  "Nope! Utah requires fingerprints to get a license, and she's got a license! Her name is Joan Renfoer, she's 32, drives a silver Camry, and we even have an address!"

  "Give it to me!"

  As soon as Hunter finished giving him the address, Sean repeated it to everyone on Travis' team using his comm.

  "Someone tell the other magic users, then we need to get over there as fast as we can!" Sean said. "And have someone get a couple of Blackhawks in the air, full loadouts!"

  "What happened?" Carol asked.

  "The police found prints on the safe and got a match. She had to give them to get a driver's license. Does the name Joan Renfoer ring any bells?"

  "Oh, God," Carol said and Brandt blanched a little.

  "What?"

  "She came here when you were stamping out the Gradatim! Claimed she was in Vegas when you destroyed their main council and decided to part ways with her old life and start over. She bought a small house west of here and mainly kept to herself."

  "But she couldn't have been possessed then; when we talked to her, we had Rafe and his security head there, they would have smelled it!"

  "Any idea what she did for Gradatim?" Sean asked.

  They shook their heads.

  "Well, let's see if she's at home," Sean said as Chet got them turned around.

  "Do you think it's at her house?" Brandt asked as they sped out of the parking lot and down the streets heading to Renfoer's home, which was about ten miles southwest of the data center.

  "Demons…" Estrella started.

  "Djevels," Cali corrected with a smile.

  "Djevels," Estrella repeated, then stuck her tongue out at Cali, who giggled, "are not the most imaginative. The chances are good that it retreated there, where it feels safe, while it considers the options."

  "Even if they're not," Sean said, picking up after Estrella had stopped, "we'll learn something, and hopefully get something we can use to scry on her or track her."

  "That won't work if she's wearing one of those medallions of yours," Brandt said.

  "She'd have to take it off to cast mind spells, so there's a good chance she won't be wearing it." Sean didn't feel like sharing that the medallion didn't work against him. "You wouldn't happen to have any spells that locate nuclear bombs, would you?" he said instead.

  Brandt shook his head and sighed. "Sorry, that's not a skill I ever thought we'd need."

  "Me neither. I just wonder how long that equipment will take to get here," he grumbled. Borrowing Travis' tablet, he called up a local mapping program, and switched to satellite view.

  "Looks like a single house off a side road, surrounded by fields."

  "Sound easy," Travis said, "which of course means it won't be."

  Sean nodded again, then heard the sound of a helicopter passing them overhead.

  "How far out?"

  "Five miles," said Chet, who was driving.

  Sean checked his radio and keyed the command frequency. "Don't get too close until we get there; I don't want to warn her or scare her off."

  "Roger that!" the first helicopter's pilot responded.

  "Roger! We've got a combat mage onboard; do you want him to silence the bird so we can get in closer and look around?" the second helicopter's pilot asked.

  "Not until we're closer."

  "Do djevels need lights?" another voice called on comms.

  "In human bodies they do, why?"

  "Because the place is dark. I got my scope on it and set for thermal, and the place is black as night, though there's a faint warm spot fading in the driveway. Like someone parked a car hot car there for a while."

  "So she's probably not there." Sean sighed. "Cast the silence spell, go in close, and look. We'll be there in about two minutes."

  "Sounds like she was there and left," Estrella said.

  "I wonder why she left?"

  "Maybe she needs something?" Cali suggested.

  Sean hit the comm channel for Stewart.

  "Yes, Sean?"

  "I'm pretty sure she's coming your way. Warn everybody. Has Hunter sent her picture around?"

  "Yup, looking at it now."

  "Remember, she may have a bomb on her, so warn everyone to be careful."

  "You got it, Sean," Stewart said and clicked off with Sean.

  Stewart keyed the local command circuit.

  "Everyone! Sean just called; he thinks she's coming this way. Use your brains and don't forget the first rule of nuclear bombs!"

  "Don't be around one when it goes off?" some wag, probably Demon, responded.

  "That's the second rule. The first rule is do not shoot at the nuclear weapon! Got it?" Stewart said with a laugh, then clicked off and sat down to wait while keeping an eye on their unconscious guest.

  #

  "Why do we take orders from that kid again?" asked Lance Corporal Troy, one of the tiger Marines.

  "Because his father, Art, will kick your balls up into your stomach while all the other Sacramento wolves hold you down?" replied Gunnery Sergeant Josh, one of the many jaguar lycans now in the Marines. "Plus, even though he's Sean's apprentice and a magic user, he still goes out on combat patrols with the same wolves who once threatened to kill him every week."

  "Wait, he does what?"

  "It dates back to before Sean pwned all the Sacramento magic users and took their wolves. Apparently they wanted to use him as a bargaining chip for their freedom or something? I heard him mention it once when he was razzing them about something after they got back from patrol. So I asked one of the wolves, Jester, about it, and he told me they were all proud of the way Stew went from some spoiled ass rich kid to a guy who'll risk burning to death to drag you out of a burning building after a demon's almost killed you."

  "Seriously?"

  "Why do you think he's the one sitting guard on the high value target we got inside there? You don't get a couple of hotties like the two he has if you're not bringing something big, bad, and serious to the table."

  "Ain't that the truth!" said Sergeant Dall, one of the other tiger lycans. "That really hot one? April? Damn, have you seen her work that SAW? She leaves the gunny panting in lust every time she quals on the range!"

  Josh listened with half an ear as they rambled on about the hot little fox girl and her big, bad light machine gun until his comm came on.

  "Yo, Darkside, you got a car heading your way," one of the lookouts called.

  "Thanks for the head's up," Josh said, then waved his hand at his team, who all went quiet.

  "We got something. Remember what Stewart said. Don't go shooting anybody, especially if it's our target. We don't want to hit any bombs."

  "Yeah, that would sure ruin your day!" Dall agreed with a laugh.

  Moving out into the street that went by the buildings, Josh held up his hand to stop the vehicle that was approaching. He had to wonder how the car had gotten through the front gate. Either someone had slipped up, or…"

  "Don't anyone open fire unless I do. Follow my lead and keep your damn mouths shut!" he growled as he suddenly recognized the car, a dirty silver Camry; and the woman driving it, their possessed magic user.

  He walked around the side of the car as it stopped and smiled at her. "Can I help you, ma'am?"

  "I need to see someone inside," she said as the wind shifted and he caught a whiff of her. He'd smelled enough demons during combat by now that he didn't even flinch.

  "Do you know who, ma'am?"

  He watched as she made some sort of hand gesture and muttered a couple of words, then looked him in the eyes.

  "I need to see Karen Taite, the woman they took into custody. Where is she?"

  "Oh, she's right inside the building here! I'd be happy to escort you to her, ma'am," he said with a smile.

  "Just tell me where!"

  "Oh, well," Josh said and launched into the most confusing instructions he could think of, stopping several times to suggest a different route.

  "Stop! Take me there, I order you!"

  "Why, I'd be happy to, ma'am," he said, still smiling. Slinging his rifle, he helped her out of the car.

  "You three! Protect my car!" she said as she got out and looked around.

  "Yes, ma'am!" Dall, Troy, and Lee said, briefly snapping to attention and saluting.

  Josh almost rolled his eyes, but she bought it, and he led her towards the building. He really had no idea where they were holding the woman she was looking for, he just wanted to get her away from the bomb before he lit her up. Normally he'd be hesitant to kill a woman, but the way she stank, she wasn't a woman anymore.

  "Huh, it's locked," he said when the got to the door and he pulled on it. "Let me call and have someone open it."

  "No! Stand back, I'll open it!" she said, and as he moved behind her, he unslung his rifle, flicked the selector to full auto, sighted on her head, and pulled the trigger at the same time the door blocking her entry suddenly popped open, setting off alarms everywhere.

  "Darkside! Report!" came Captain Yokota's voice over the radio.

  "This is Sergeant Josh. I got our target, she's down, and she's not moving."

  "You sure?"

  "Well, unless she can grow a new head, yeah, I'm sure."

  "Any sign of the device?"

  "Dall, Troy, and Lee are watching her car. You might want to send EOD or somebody out to check it."

  "Stand fast, and keep an eye on that body! If it so much as twitches, call for help and hose it down!"

  "Yes, sir, Captain!"

  "Damn, Josh, what the hell did you do?" Troy called where they were guarding the car. "Why'd she listen to you?"

  "Didn't you guys pay attention to the brief? She's a mind mage!"

  "What's that mean?"

  "That means she was casting spells to dominate our minds so we'd do what she said."

  "I didn't feel nothing; you guys feel anything?" Troy asked, looking at the other two.

  "Well, that's 'cause you ain't got nothing up there to feel with!" Dall said with a snicker.

  "Huh? I don't get it."

  "Your medallion, bright boy, it blocks mind spells."

  "Oh, I knew that…"

  Josh just shook his head and sighed. He kept an eye on the body as Dall and Lee continued to rag on Troy. Hopefully this meant they'd be going back home to Carson City soon. Betty was expecting their first child, and he really wanted to be there for her when she delivered.

  #

  "Looks empty," Sean said after they'd snuck up and he'd cast a couple of detection spells.

  "There are no alarms on any of this, my husband," Cali said, "but let us go in the window just to be safe."

  Sean nodded and watched as she quickly unlatched the window from the outside using a thick piece of metal. Opening it, she went in first, with him following, then Estrella, Travis, and Burt.

  "Damn, this place stinks of djevel," Burt grumbled.

  "At least she didn't have any family for us to find rotting in a freezer somewhere," Sean said.

  "Oh, yeah, heard about that one, Sorry."

  "Eh, not your fault. Now, let's check the back door, and if it's safe, we'll get the others in here and start searching."

  They were well into the search when Sean's comm came to life with a call from Jack Kennedy.

  "Yes, Jack?"

  "We got the djevel, and we got the bomb."

  "Out-fucking-standing! What happened?"

  "Sure enough, she showed up here and tried to meet with Karen. One of the Marines she ran into pretended to fall under her control, led her away from her car, and killed her first chance he got."

  "And the bomb?"

  "It was in the trunk. Along with one dead gate guard."

  "Oh, shit. How'd that happen?"

  "I'm not sure, but I guess they hadn't gotten the word yet, and when they refused her entry, she killed the four of them with some sort of magical wand, then hid their bodies wherever she could. One got tossed in the car with the bomb."

  "Well, kudos to the Marine who outsmarted her. I'm gonna finish up out here searching her house. Let Stewart know, if you haven't already."

  "Will do."

  "So they got her?" Carol asked as the others continued to search the house, going through all the papers and other documents.

  "Yes, and they got the bomb, too."

  "I found a warded circle in one of the rooms," Brandt said, joining them and looking very unhappy.

  "Was it done in blood?" Sean asked.

  Brandt shook his head. "I've heard about those, by the way, but no, this was for summoning. I'm thinking she did this to herself."

  "Why would she do a thing like that?" Sean asked, looking around, puzzled.

  "I think she was part of the Gradatim's demon…"

  "Djevel," Cali corrected.

  "…djevel research team. The one Gerald Perkins told them to shut down. We know Spencer had several of his researchers killed after that, or they 'committed suicide', and he sent the rest to Perkins, who had them killed. I guess Joan here was one that got away."

  Sean sighed. "Everyone, set everything down and leave the building. Travis, get a can of gas and a couple of flares; we're burning this place down."