Chapter 16

“So… Can I lower my hands now, or?...”  Artemvian drawled.

“Keep them up.”  The woman’s voice was brisk and terse, still wary of him.  “Turn around.  Slowly.  Don’t try anything.”

Then the cold barrel of the gun left Artemvian’s skin and he turned to face her.  “Ah.  So it really is a gun.  I had thought that you were just happy to see me.”

“Shut up.”  She scowled.  “You’re going to explain everything.  Starting with how you’re involved in this mess.”

“Like I said, I’m investigating the whereabouts of Helen Papier on behalf of a client.”  Artemvian thought about mentioning Tracy but decided against it.  “I found out that she’s being held in this warehouse by a gang of Ghouls calling themselves the Corpse Heads.  Hence, I’m here.”

Celine twitched at the mention of Ghouls.

Interesting.

“You’re in the Know?”  Celine’s gun was still pointed at Artemvian’s forehead but he thought it  lowered a fraction of a degree.  She was starting to become less wary of him.

More than that, she didn’t ask him what Ghouls were.  Instead, she countered with a question of her own: asking him if he was in the ‘Know’.  There was only one thing that could be referring to, and it was the supernatural presence in this world.  Just like Artemvian theorized, not everyone in this world had pulled the wool over their eyes.  Some –as Celine put it– were in the Know.

“I am.”  Artemvian answered without missing a beat, smiling.

She seemed to struggle with something then lowered the gun completely, so that it wasn’t trained on Artemvian anymore.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’d let me handle this one.”  Celine walked past him then stopped right short of the alley, peeking out.  “I don’t know how much experience you have with the Other Side, but I doubt you’ve ever taken on Ghouls before.”

“You have?”  Artemvian asked.

“Plenty.”  Celine growled.  

Artemvian noticed that the fading streetlights and the shadow of the alley did all sorts of interesting things to the curve of her thighs, continuing on towards her hips.  Like he observed, she was a runner.  Probably did lots of it.  Which explained a lot of things.  If she was an agent of the state and knew about the Supernatural and had experience in fighting these things, then she knew that running was a must.

A lot of things were stronger than people.  Period.  End of story.  So what did people have to become good at? Running.

Artemvian shook his head.  “Can’t.  Promised my client.”

“Not worth your life, Merc.”

“I gave my word.”  He said sadly.

Celine turned to look at him.  The strange machine-like blue lights played across her irises again.  Moving and focusing, like gears spinning and whirring.  She looked at Artemvian up and down.  “I’m not sure how much help an Empath can be in this situation.  How much weight can you pull with your Telekinesis?”

“Um.  A lot.  I’m not sure.”

“Useless.”  Celine answered and went back to studying the building.  “...Back at the apartment, you didn’t seem to be serious.”

“I was serious.  I stayed alive, didn’t I?”  

“You were holding back.”  She said with a note of finality.  Something in her tone left no room for argument.

Artemvian shrugged.  “You were doing your job, agent.  I was in the wrong.”

She scoffed then motioned him over.  He stood a little behind her as she started rattling off the details.  Celine smelled like wood and cloth.  Artemvian tried not to sniff too deeply.

“There, there and there.”  She pointed in three rapid succession.  There were tall towers, made of bars with what looked like a tiny square situated on the top.  “One lookout on each tower.  Most likely Ghouls.  Three Ghouls and I can’t even begin to imagine how many more there are.”

“More than three.”  Artemvian couldn’t stop himself.

Celine fixed him with a look.

“You’re not calling for others?”  He changed the topic.

A stubborn look crossed her face.  “No.  I’m not.”

Artemvian waited for an explanation but none came.

“Celine-”

“Call me officer.”

“Officer,”  Artemvian corrected, “You obviously aren’t going to arrest me.  You’re not going to chase me off either.  I obviously have some measure of trust.”

“The only reason you’re still standing is because you didn’t try to fuck with my mind, Merc.”  But the heat wasn't in her voice.

“I won’t ask you questions about why you can’t call your colleagues.  That’s your own story, fine.”  Artemvian bent down and picked up the discarded potato chips.  Some of them were still in the bag.  He reached in and bit into one, chewed thoughtfully then swallowed it.  “I think we have a common goal here.  Let me help.”

Celine didn’t answer immediately.  And when she finally did, it was with slow, careful deliberation of one who was looking at something strange for the first time, trying to figure out how it works.  

“Then I will hire you.”

“Huh?”  Artemvian retorted with uncanny wit.

“Yes.”  Her words found their regular rhythm again.  “I’ll hire you.  As a Subcontractor.  Help me get the people in this warehouse clear and get rid of the Ghouls.”

“How much?”

Celine faltered.  “...Five hundred.  Five hundred Doilies.”

“Cash only.”  Riley had taught Artemvian to say that.  Who knew that it would come in so handy?

“Cash it is.”  Celine held out a hand.  “Do we have a deal, Empath?”

“Deal.”  He shook her hand.

“Celine Kim.”  She introduced herself.

“Artemvian Delacreu Moneti.”  Artemvian did a little flourish with his hands and bowed at the waist.  The potato chip bag was still held to his chest.  “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“What do you know about Ghouls?”

‘The better question is, what don’t I know about Ghouls?’ But Artemvian kept that to himself.

“Gluttonous to a fault where their hunger can overwhelm their mind at times.  They also live in packs, a Matriarchal Society.  Their social structure is based around the Matriarch, as she’s the beginning of all Ghouls.  The reason why they kidnap younger girls in general is because they have a greater chance of being turned into a Queen.  The older you are, the smaller the chances.”

“You… how…”  Celine took a deep breath.  Artemvian had the sense that he had rattled her somehow.  “Never mind.  What do you know about their physical capabilities?”

“Offhand?”  Artemvian shrugged a shoulder, popped a chip into his mouth.  “Fast and strong.  And blasted hells, are they tough.  Some theorize that their physiology is closer to insects than mammals, due to how much punishment they can withstand.”

Celine nodded along but stopped when Artemvian began going over the specifics.  “Then you do know they won’t even blink at most forms of Telekinesis.  Unless you have enough juice to collapse the building on them, I doubt you could hurt them.  Can you run psychic interference?”

“To what end?”

“I’ve seen an empath do it before.  Froze a couple of them mid-fight.  They just fell to the ground, grabbing their heads in their hands.”  She lifted an eyebrow at him.  “Can you do it or not?”

“A direct attack on their psyche… interesting.”  Artemvian muttered.  “But I cannot.  I doubt we’ll need it.”

“Some empath you are.”

Now that Celine had decided that Artemvian wasn’t some criminal –though technically, he guessed he woul be if the law were white and black about it– she was treating him with more ease than before.  So he took the jab with dignity.  “I’ll be helpful.  I promise.”

“These theories that you’ve been spouting,”  Celine continued, “Are any of them useful?”

‘She thinks what I told her are theories.’  Artemvian noted.  “None that we’d need in our current situation.  I doubt the Ghoul in there is older than a few months old.”

In fact, Ghouls tended to send their youngest queens to start territory wars.  Sometimes, they started the territory wars because of the birth of the new queen.  Starting a small-scale conflict like this was the perfect way for a queen to get experience running her own hive, plus plenty of food sources to start out with.

Celine checked her gun and it snapped into place.  It hummed with a strange vibrating sound, bluish-green light running the length of it.  It wasn’t the same gun that Artemvian saw before.  “Then stay behind me and keep your shield handy.”

Artemvian sniffed daintily.  “Ok then.  Ladies first it is.”

The two quickly stepped out of the dark alley and headed towards the Warehouse full of Ghouls.