Cold Breath

Caia strode into the stone buildimg Jervan had given her directions to. She walked up the long empty hallway to the room with the blue stone door. Caia pushed the door open, allowing it to bang loudly against the wall. The small group assembled at the expansive wooden table jumped and twisted in their seats to stare at her. Jervan rolled his eyes. "Nice of you to finally join us."

"It's called being fashionably late, Jervan," Caia replied lightly. She strode across the room, her gauzy black dress swishing around her knees. "I wouldn't expect you to know anything about that. But frankly, it's your fault for scheduling a meeting before the sun rose. What are you in charge of for the Conclave? Torture?" She dropped into a chair, putting her black booted feet on the table and crossing her ankles. Her bag hit the floor with a dull thud. Hex flew down from her soldier to curl up on the table, watching the others with mild interest.

"Is that a Hellcat?" An older man with thick spectacles and frizzy white hair leaned forward to stare at Hex with fascination. Hex pinned his tufted ears back and bared his fangs.

"He doesn't like waking up early, either," Caia said, running her finger down Hex's back to calm him down. She surveyed the rest of Jervan's team. There was a girl and a man across from her who had to be siblings; the same dark brown hair streaked with bright blue, gold, and red. The girl was hunched slightly in her chair as though she was trying to make herself smaller but the boy stared at Caia with open curiosity. Her eyes continued down the table. A tall girl with hair so short she was almost bald and numerous piercings in her ears sat a seat away from the boy with the streaked hair. Her eyes were such a pale blue they were almost colorless. "You're a Seer," Caia said. The girl nodded, smiling faintly. "I have visions, and can scry for past or current events, under the right circumstances."

"Adelita is highly skilled," Jervan said. "She's being modest." Next to Adelita was the frizzy haired man. "Mage?" Caia guessed. The man beamed. "Ah, yes. My name is Alan. I'm well versed in demonology, among other things."

At the far end of the table was a tall, broad-shouldered man with pale hazel eyes, and reddish brown hair. "I can understand animals, and the earth."

"Dash?" Caia squinted. "Is that you?" He smiled slightly. "Hi, Caia. It's been a long time." Caia's mother had had an affinity for earth. It wasn't so powerful that the Conclave took interest in her, but the wealthiest Mages and members of the Conclave that lived in the capital had hired her to tend to the gardens because they always grew better and more beautiful when Emilee Trudeaux tended to them. Dash was the son of a powerful Conclave Council member, though you'd never guess it to look at him or speak to him. Dash was large and muscular, and tended to intimidate people but he was generally gentle and soft-spoken. Not that he couldn't hold his own in a fight. Caia had seen him whip more than a few bullies into quivering piles of mush. He had often visited Caia's mother while she worked the gardens, and he and Caia had become friends, since he didn't treat her like he was better than her like most of the other stuck-up rich kids, and she didn't treat him like a freak for preferring the company of trees and animals. But he had never known about her powers. He was eyeing her even more curiously than the copper-eyed man had.

Caia's eyes skipped back to the siblings at that thought. "You two are tougher." She cocked her head. "Assorted bag of tricks, I assume."

"My sister Briar is a Theurgian," the man volunteered. "I'm Tate, and I'm a Kinetic. Double Kinetic. Ferrokinesis and Calokinesis."

"Metal and heat," Alan clarified. Caia shot him a withering look.

"I'm a Pyrokinetic," another boy added. He gave an awkward wave. He had black hair pulled back in a ponytail and eyes so brown they were almost black. "Thaddeus."

"This is what you're taking into battle with a demon?" I asked Jervan.

"I also have an Echidna who has agreed to help. She's skilled with poisons, and often consults with the Conclave and she sees and hears more than people realize. She can give us plenty of inside information."

"A serpent hybrid?" Caia leaned back in her chair. "Interesting choices, Jervan."

"What do you do?" Tate asked. "Do you have a power, or do you just supply the sarcasm and derision?"

Caia smirked. "I'm a Syrienne." That earned her a few raised eyebrows. "So what exactly is our game plan here, Jervan?"

"I'm waiting for Oralyn to contact me with any information she can dig up, and in the meantime Alan is going to to tell us all he knows about high-level demons."

"Well, admittedly it's not much." Alan began rummaging through the pile of books and scrolls laid out before him.

"Mages," Caia muttered under her breath.

"Before we start with that, Alan, I have something to show all of you. I warn you, it will be disturbing. We had three Memory Shifters that worked the scenes where the murders took place. They were able to project what they saw there onto these scrolls. I'm hoping that it might help us gain more insight into what we're dealing with." He flashed Caia a brief apologetic look and unfurled the scrolls. Caia braced herself, showing no emotion as she looked at the imprinted memories. Shattered windows. Frost and snow covering the room. And bodies. Strewn across the houses; some impaled on icicles that were sharpened to spear-like points, others were frozen solid, their eyes blank and staring and their lips blue. Others were so frost-bitten they were hardly recognizable as anything that had once been living.

Unpleasant flashbacks threatened to undo her resolve, but Caia had had nearly a decade of practicing the art of hiding her emotions. She shoved her memories back to the dark, dusty corners of her mind where they belonged and observed the pictures with a critical, detached eye. Her fellow recruits did not have her steel nerve, apparently. Adelita's eyes grew glassy with tears, Briar sucked in a sharp breath and drew back. All color drained from Dash's face and Alan actually turned a little green. Tate looked repulsed and Thaddeus swore, turning his face away from the gruesome images.

"That's definitely a high-level demon," Alan said weakly. "It would take incredible magical strength to control something this powerful."

"How enlightening," Caia said dryly. "How do we kill it? Cross engraved with sacred runes and dipped in the blood of an angel? Banishing spell? Killing the summoner?" She started winding her long hair into a bun.

Alan squinted at her. "I'll need to actually see the sights of the killings." He didn't look thrilled with the prospect. "Adelita, can you get a sense of feelings and memories?"

"Yes," she said, recovering from the grisly pictures. "It won't be anything as clear as the memory imprints here, but I can get auras and emotions, especially in places where emotions or magic were high. I'd wager there are plenty of things left imprinted on these rooms."

"We leave in two days then. If everyone is still willing to take this job?" Jervan looked around the table. No one made a move to leave. He nodded and stood. "There are guest rooms here in this building. I'll make sure we have all the supplies we need."

Caia swung her legs off the table and rose from her chair. "Well it's been fun kids." Hex flapped his wings and landed on her shoulder.

"Where are you going, Caia?" Jervan called after her.

"You said there were guest rooms, right? Did I mention I don't rise before the sun?"

"Everyone is dismissed. We'll meet again before we leave to discuss any last minute details." Jervan caught up with Caia in the hall.

"When did you get the tattoo?" he asked, falling in step beside her.

"Three years ago." Her strapless black dress revealed the elaborate ink. At the base of her neck was a joined sun and crescent moon surrounded by stars, looking down upon a dancing skeleton wearing a crown of roses and weeping thorns as it played a violin. The skeleton had roses for eyes, and its grinning teeth were made of piano keys. The rib cage was shaped like a violin as well, with flowers and vines growing around and through the bones. "You really think those soft-hearted rookies in there can take down a demon?" Caia asked.

"They're all immensely talented at what they do. Most have consulted with or helped me on other cases. The Emerson girl was recommended to me by the Theurgian leaders. Her brother was pretty adamant about coming too when he found out, and I must admit his skills could be useful and he's apparently the best apprentice the metalworking guild has."

"I just hope you know what you're doing. The demon that did that to those people...it's serious, Jervan. And if someone was willing to secretly, and probably illegally, obtain the power to summon something that dangerous, they mean business and aren't going to let anyone stand in their way."

"It doesn't look good," Jervan agreed. "But I'd like to see anyone or anything move you once you've decided to get in its way. And I think the others may surprise you. They have the potential to be far more than what they seem."

"Broderick Jervan, always trying to search for the good in everyone and make everyone feel special."

Jervan allowed a hint of a smile, then he rubbed his hand tiredly over his face. "I don't want anyone in that room to get hurt. Most of them are kids, for fuck's sake."

"We're older than you were when you started working for the Conclave."

"I didn't dive right into cases like this. Caia...I don't think I ever told you that I'm sorry. About your mother and father."

She stiffened and turned away. They had reached the wing where the guest rooms were. "It wasn't your fault," she said. "I'll see you in two days, Jervan." She strode to the first room she saw and firmly shut the door behind her.