Smoke and Mirrors - 46

Aidan paced Mor’s living room, deep in thought, while the others watched. After a few minutes of swiveling his head back and forth Daniel had finally had it. “Sit, Aidan, now,” he growled. “Sit and tell us who would want to discredit you badly enough to make it seem that you are a spy for your court.”

“Honestly? Too many,” Aidan said as he stopped moving, although he didn’t sit as ordered. “I’m a battle-mage. I made my fair share of enemies before I left. It’s my enemies that made me decide I didn’t trust the court, since too many of them are members.”

“Wait, this court of yours is made up of people from both sides of…well whatever it was that caused you to be fighting?”

Aidan nodded. “Sort of like the human’s government only we’re a bit bloodier.”

“Ahh, reminds me of my home,” Mor said with a sigh. Then she chuckled, shaking her head. “And I don’t miss it one bit.”

“Why is it that Supes all seem to be like that,” Daniel pondered. “Always the alpha and omega, always fighting for supremacy or submitting to the leader.”

Jared replied, “And humans don’t do the same thing?”

“I guess they do.” Daniel muttered before turning back to Aidan. “Is there anyone specific that would like to see you fail here, or perhaps who wants you to come back there? As far as that goes, would you have considered Kenton a friend or an enemy before tonight?”

“Last first. I suppose I’d have considered him an ally of sorts since he’s chosen to live here and distrusts the court, too. As for the rest, sure there are a couple of them that stand out but…” Aidan ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “This seems to center on the wand, and to the best of my knowledge there’s no reason for either of them to think I’d even been close to it, to say the least of being in a position to steal it.”

“What about friends?” Jared said.

“Meaning what?” Aidan looked puzzled.

“Are you in contact with a member of the court and did your tell them about the wand?”

“Jared, I’m here and in hiding from anyone from my world. Well, I was in hiding until tonight when I went with you to see… Oh hell!”

They all got it at the same time. Mor was the one who voiced it. “The wand was a lure to draw you out. The fact that the nahual, or any of the rest of us, were involved was purely coincidence.”

“It’s possible,” Aidan said, angry at himself for falling for that if it was true. “Kenton weakens the hiding spell hoping I’d sense its whereabouts and go after it. Instead you do and take it.”

“I wonder if he’s re-hidden it with the idea that this time it will be you who finds it,” Daniel questioned, “Although if he did, he’s undoubtedly moved it again to safer place after our visit tonight.”

“Probably,” Aidan agreed. “But why would he do this? I still don’t understand.”

Jared tapped a finger to his lips. “Perhaps he’s not what he seems. Aidan, you told us he was sent here originally to retrieve the wand and take it back to the court.”

“So the story goes and everything points to it’s being true.”

“But you say he had a change of heart and hid it instead, once he got to the States.”

“Yes, Jared, and that was over two hundred years ago, back when I was still there and involved, fighting the ‘good fight’.” Aidan sneered out the last two words.

“Then, in the last few years, you had your own change of heart and went into hiding in this world. That puts the two of you on an equal footing.”

“What if someone threatened to force Kenton into returning to your world if he didn’t help capture you?” Daniel asked.

“Possible.” Aidan nodded slowly. “Very possible.”

“Time to go back and have another talk with him,” Mor stated adamantly.

“And what if we’re walking right into the spider’s web if we do?” Daniel said. “He’s got to be expecting us to do that now.”

She looked at him and then the other males. “Then we destroy it and whatever spiders are there.”

“Tomorrow.” Jared shot a stern look at her. “If we’re going after spiders we need the proper bug killer.”

“Arachnid killer to be technically correct,” Daniel pointed out, earning an arched eyebrow and flicked-up middle finger from his partner and tension-relieved laughs from the others.