Woman King Page 9

  Elsa and Gabriel exchanged a knowing glance. This is where they begin to bind you with their secrets, I thought to myself, the way they fold you in.

  “They know,” Elsa said. “The museum knows we are here.”

  “It’s true,” Gabriel said, seeing my raised eyebrows. “The museum spent a fortune to build this magnificent copper building. Copper, as you may know, is an ancient metal dating back to the Romans. It is a very important metal in the supernatural world. You are standing inside a building that has the ability to conduct energy back and forth between individuals and the spirit world. It acts as an amplifier for our thoughts, for sending and receiving psychic communications. Can you imagine? No better building could be constructed for our purposes.”

  “When we learned of the plans to build the museum, we contacted their executive director,” Gabriel continued, “Although human, she is quite the diva and has a reputation as a bit of a sorceress herself. She was only too happy to accommodate our request in exchange for a sizable donation.”

  I nodded. “It all makes frighteningly good sense.”

  “But,” Gabriel said, his head cocked to one side. “There is something on your mind.”

  “It’s nothing. I’m amazed at the business-like way in which this all operates. You have a state-of-the art building, wireless technology. It all seems, well…routine.”

  “Did you expect us to fly around on broomsticks and play quidditch?” Elsa asked sharply. “That is a children’s fantasy.”

  “What Elsa means,” Gabriel interjected diplomatically, “Is that we’ve adopted today’s standards like the rest of the world. We cannot survive if we fail to adapt to our surroundings. But I will take credit for the business-like way in which things run. In my other life, I’m the CEO of a computer graphics firm that makes 3-D images for movies. Our offices are near Marseille. I started my career in the mid 70’s at Industrial Light and Magic in Marin.”

  Before I could think too much about what he’d said, Gabriel grabbed my arm and led me away.

  “It’s time for your grand tour,” he said.

  Elsa said she would stay behind in the main arena, as it was called, and monitor things.

  Although I remained wary, there was something very comfortable and familiar about Gabriel. I found myself easily being led by him, and before I knew it, we were back in the elevator. We went down one floor and stepped out into what looked like ordinary office space filled with cubicles—complete with more young workers seated, heads down at their desks.

  “We use most floors of this tower,” he said, gesturing toward the desks. “A director and one deputy manage the Council. Our positions rotate every five years. You’ll meet my deputy, Aidan Burke, in a few minutes; he keeps his office on the floor below. A crafty Irish shape-shifter, he and I have been friends for years. We’re in the fourth year of our term; next year the deputies for central and eastern Europe will take control.”

  “You’re not very excited about that,” I remarked, feeling a deep sense of ambivalence coming from him.

  “Very good, Olivia,” he said. “Your skills are becoming second nature to you. But to answer your question, yes, I have reservations. Zoran Mikić is a werewolf. By day, he is the governor of the Croatian National Bank. His deputy, Nikola Pajovic, is a vampire, as well as a wealthy Serbian developer who builds casinos on the Adriatic coast. They have a unique partnership, with Nikola acting as more of the leader. I worry, at times, about their commitment to the mission of the Council.”

  I could almost say the same thing, feeling at a loss myself to understand what the Council’s purpose was. Why did it need deputies and rotating staffs to monitor humans?

  “Gabriel, I hope you don’t mind my asking, but why is all of this necessary? What exactly is it that you, we, do?”

  Gabriel nodded. “Yes. Let me explain. As I mentioned, the Council is divided by region, with directors holding positions for North America and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, western Europe, eastern Europe, Asia, and finally, Africa and the Middle East. Each sector monitors elections and shifts in government. We try, when possible, to intervene in elections to ensure moderate candidates take seats in government.

  “Why not every time?”

  “That would be a little too obvious,” Gabriel said. “We’re a clandestine organization, looking to protect the interests of our kind. If we influenced every election, it would draw too much attention to ourselves.”

  “And why is this necessary?”

  Gabriel walked over to a desk and asked for one of the iPads. He quickly called up a news article and walked over to me.

  “Read the headline,” he said, gesturing to the text on the screen.

  Presidential Candidate Holds Prayer Rally

  Oklahoma City (AP)—Thousands of evangelical Christians flocked to the state’s capital today to participate in a prayer rally at the invitation of Governor Bob Ferry. Ferry, a devout Christian known for handing Bible verses to his aides, is preparing to run for president.

  “This guy is a joke,” I said, shaking my head. “Why should you worry about him?”

  “It is easy to laugh at him here in San Francisco. He seems very remote from your life. But do you remember the story of the Trojan horse, Olivia? The people of Troy believed the horse to be a gift and therefore let it into their village, only to be destroyed by the Greeks hiding inside. Ferry is a man who prays for rain, and who bans books from his state’s libraries because they promote witchcraft. One man like this may be a joke, but when you elect an entire Congress full of them.”

  “Are you telling me that men like Ferry are a threat?”

  “Exactement. He carries in his heart the same vision as other zealots: to turn us into true believers. The civilized world is a mile wide and an inch deep. If you create the right settings, religious fanatics could control this country. Already in Europe we see the beginnings of nationalism and xenophobia. Here in the U.S., a congresswoman is shot in the head at point blank range; in Norway, government buildings blown up…Extremism is everywhere. A witch burning doesn’t seem so implausible when laws and justice are meted out in God’s name.”

  “Do you really think that the country could be hijacked by people like this?”

  Gabriel looked out through the open windows at the darkened sky beyond. “I would rather ensure that it doesn’t happen.”

  “And how do you see me in all of this, again?” I asked.

  “I see you running a campaign. Levi Barnes, your old boss, is running for congress. It’s a new seat created by the latest redistricting process, so it’s wide open, no incumbent. He’s declared, but hasn’t picked his campaign staff yet.”

  “And he’s going to hire me…because you asked him to? It’s been a decade since we’ve worked together.”

  Gabriel smiled. “I know him well because of my work with technology. He invented an application that essentially turns a smart phone into an encrypted credit card. He sold the technology for an enormous sum…an amazing man, really.”

  “I’m not surprised,” I said, “but you still haven’t answered my question. Why is he going to hire me?”

  “Because you’re the best person for the job,” Gabriel said. “And because I will strongly suggest that he does.”

  “Suggest,” I repeated. “You mean a spell?”

  “If that is what it takes to get him on board, yes.”

  “Why would you go to the trouble to gain one congressional seat in Silicon Valley?”

  Gabriel smiled as he walked us back toward the elevator. “What makes you think it’s one seat? I told you it’s about the total number of seats held. Our job is to ensure rational, moderate people win seats.”

  “I should think the hardest part would be to get rational, moderate people to even run for office.”

  Gabriel nodded. “It is increasingly difficult.”

  We descended one more floor, walked out of the elevator and stopped outside an office with its door closed. Gabriel kno
cked and the door was quickly opened by a tall, slim man with dark black hair and bright blue eyes.

  “Hello, Aidan,” Gabriel said warmly. “This is Olivia, the empath I told you about.”

  Aidan, whose handsome, dark features were slightly distracting, even for a man easily a decade older than me, gave me more scrutiny than I would have expected. He seemed to be examining me closely, although I could not detect an ounce of emotion coming from him.

  “Hello, Olivia,” he said cordially, a hint of an Irish accent coming though. “Welcome to the Council. Gabriel has high hopes for you inside this organization.”

  “You can check out, but you can never leave,” I said with a smile. “Oops, I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

  Aidan tossed back his head and laughed. Now I could feel his warmth bubbling up. “Yes, something like that, I’m afraid. In fact, we need to get you set up for your work. I told Gabriel I would manage that task so he could see to other business.”

  I said goodbye to Gabriel as Aidan shut the door to his office. For a moment we sat in silence, but then Aidan began to speak, fixing his blue eyes on me.

  “I’m a shape-shifter,” he said. “In my village in Ireland, every other year one boy is born with the skill to shift. It’s considered good luck to be the family whose child is born with the talent. My parents however, were not as thrilled as others might have been. I didn’t stay at home for long. I met Gabriel one evening outside Aix-en-Provence. He was walking in the hills under the glow of a full moon and we…ran into each other.”

  “Is it painful to shift?” I asked, knowing it must sound so utterly human.

  “At first, when we’re young, yes, but not now.”

  I could feel genuine friendship coming off of Aidan in waves. I felt a sense of loyalty and duty from him. I wondered why he’d taken such an instant liking to me.

  “Why did you volunteer to help me?” I asked. “Don’t you have an HR department like all global bureaucracies?”

  “Because I wanted to meet you myself,” Aidan said. “It’s unprecedented for a human to work for the Council. Gabriel is impressed with your skills and hopes you will be able to increase our chances of winning elections.”

  “I hope I can live up to everyone’s expectations,” I said. “What happens to people who lose elections?”

  Aidan’s eyes twinkled. “We send them out with the werewolves.”

  “I see, my fate will rest with Zoran,” I said jokingly.

  Aidan’s smile disappeared, and I detected a momentary sense of loathing. “Oh, I do hope that is never the case, my dear, I do hope it is never the case,” he said. Then quickly he changed the subject by opening a drawer in his desk and pulling out a small device that I did not recognize.

  “Is this going to hurt?” I asked.

  “No, but it will be weird,” Aidan said. “I am going to embed a tracking device in your skin. No matter where you are, in this time or another, we will be able to find you.”

  “Did you say ‘in this time?’ ”

  Aidan smiled. “I did. You know about the portals. It’s possible that you will use them to go back in time one day. We all wear them. Well, most of us do, anyway.”

  I held out my arm as instructed and Aidan used the device to stamp the skin on the underside of my arm, near my wrist. I felt pressure and heard the pop of air, but there was no blood, only a tiny blue dot where the device now sat under my skin. I glanced at my arm and then back at Aidan.

  Aidan nodded, seeming to understand my thoughts. “It’s semi-permanent, but it can be deactivated if necessary. And it will convert to a homing beacon if you’re in trouble.”

  “How can I get in trouble running an election for a congressional seat?”

  “Olivia, you should know better than anybody that politics is a dangerous business.”

  ****

  CHAPTER 15

  Before leaving that evening, Aidan gave me several binders with information to read. It was mostly organizational charts of the various Council directors, as well as the Council’s mission statement. I gave him a slip of paper with my bank account on it and he promised that funds would be transferred into it almost immediately. Normally, I said, I did some work before I got paid. Aidan laughed and said that Gabriel had wanted to compensate me for the time I had lost in transitioning to my new life.

  I knew my mother would be furious if she found out about the funds. It would only confirm for her that there was something strange about a group that was willing to pay me before I’d even been on the workforce a day. But I was happy to take the money. I wasn’t convinced that Levi Barnes would hire me. If this new arrangement didn’t work out, at least I would have extra funds in my account to support myself until I decided what to do next.

  It was decided that first night at the Council’s offices that I would keep my firm open and use the same employees. Since I already had a track record running campaigns, it was a perfect cover for my work with the Council. Gabriel had returned to Aidan’s office and handed me a binder with information about District 15, the new congressional seat Levi would be running for.

  Previously made up of two other districts, the new territory was enormous, encompassing two counties, all of Silicon Valley, part of the state’s farm basket near the city of Salinas, as well as the coastline near Santa Cruz. In my opinion, it was political suicide to try to represent such a huge district, the interests of urban, suburban and agricultural voters certain to clash over the years. I couldn’t wait to hear why Levi Barnes wanted to return to the House of Representatives.

  The last thing Gabriel told me that evening as I prepared to leave was that we were having lunch with Levi the next day at the Four Seasons Hotel on Market Street.

  “You work fast,” I said in response.

  Gabriel smiled and said he would meet me in the dining room.

  At home later that night, I read through the materials I had been given. After his defeat, Levi Barnes left Congress and Utah for California. During the following decade, he became a very wealthy man. His most recent invention, enabling smart phones to act as credit cards, had ensured that he, along with his children, would never need to work again.

  I wondered how much he had changed in the decade since I had worked for him. We had parted ways on good terms, but had taken different paths. His life had been consumed with entrepreneurial pursuits and mine with politics. He was married with a family. I had started a business in the City. Time had passed quickly. But now, here we were again, being reunited by Gabriel Laurent, a man whose connections and background I was only beginning to grasp.

  I arrived at the Four Seasons dining room at 1 pm, as directed. I checked in with the host, and was led to a table where Gabriel and Levi were already seated.

  Levi Barnes was aging very gracefully. His short, black hair had grayed somewhat in the decade that had passed, but his blue eyes looked as crisp and aware as ever, and he had managed to keep his tall frame fit and trim over the years. Gabriel, once again impeccably dressed in dark jeans and a white oxford shirt with driving loafers, was almost vibrating with feelings of approval toward me. And while he was holding something back, I was sure of it, there was no hiding that he felt almost proud of me as I strolled to the table.

  Both men stood up to greet me. Gabriel gave me the traditional bisou on both cheeks and Levi clasped my hand in the two of his.

  “Olivia, it’s so nice to see you,” he said. “I’m embarrassed that it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other.”

  Right away, I opened myself up to Levi, curious to know what he was feeling. His aura was bright yellow, glowing like the sun on a summer day. This was a good sign, as yellow tends to demonstrate people who are positive, have strong intellect and are imbued with the power to inspire. Those are good skills for elected office. He was feeling a deep sense of curiosity, but was otherwise happy. For someone who had to quickly assemble a team and jump into a congressional race, he struck me as remarkably calm. I wasn’t sure if that w
as his nature—I didn’t remember him being that calm before—or maybe it was Gabriel’s influence.

  We all took a seat as I spoke. “It seems you have been a bit busy.”

  Levi laughed. “Yes, I guess I have,” he said. “The valley is a remarkable place. There are so many ideas to pursue, so many businesses to start…well, it captured my attention.”

  “And now,” I asked, as the waiter came by to bring me a menu. “You’re ready to return to Congress?”

  Levi nodded. “Utah was unpleasant and I didn’t think I would ever return to politics. But a lot of time has passed and I have changed my mind. I have enough money to last a lifetime. My children are grown and living their own lives. I am ready to do something new—or old, I guess, in this case,” he said, smiling.

  The waiter came and took our order. I was almost too excited to eat and requested a bowl of soup. Gabriel frowned and added a piece of fish to my lunch, saying, “the sole here is too delicious to be missed,” and ordered a bottle of Sancerre to go with the meal. It struck me as odd, his desire to feed me, but despite my efforts I could not detect any untoward motives on his part.

  If Levi found it odd that a French digital media executive was ordering lunch for me, he didn’t show it. Gabriel told Levi that we knew each other because of his interest in building an office tower in San Francisco. “I have toyed with the idea of re-locating some, possibly all of my employees to San Francisco,” he told Levi. “France is lovely, but we have no start-up culture and our film industry has less of a need for the kind of 3-D animation we develop. I spend so much of my time coming to California that it makes sense to relocate. Olivia has been kind enough to put up with my half-hearted efforts to look at parcels of land and provide me with a political analysis of my chances.”

  “This is a great time to build in San Francisco,” I said, going along with the charade. “The city has incredible tax credits to offer technology companies willing to relocate here.”