Chapter 180 – Here We Go Again

“…recent shootout in a northern Michigan town still remains open to investigation. Local law enforcement has cleared one group of any wrongdoing, stating that those individuals acted in self-defense. Local prosecutors have stated that charges may still be filed if new information is discovered or other parties come forward.” – News broadcast

Just as Jay had predicted, Kurt had to nearly be dragged away from his workbench on Friday afternoon. He had been in the middle of making a test bed for the barrier enchantment that Rindi had suggested when Val walked in.

“Kurt, it’s time to go.” She said in a very polite and gentle tone.

“Uh-ha, just a minute.” He replied while filling in the runic script on his drawing of the enchantment template.

“Kurt, that’s what you said thirty minutes ago.” Val said in a much less polite tone.

He nodded. “Yeah, just one more second.” He pulled back from the binder with the draft to look at the inscription as a whole.

“Now, Kurt!” Val said in a very much less gentle tone and slammed the cover of his binder closed. “It’s one in the afternoon and we have been done working for the past two hours. We already told Alec we would be leaving soon. You have missed lunch and you still haven’t packed!”

Kurt flinched as the cover snapped shut. He turned to Val, ready to be upset at the interruption but a few things happened. First, he began to comprehend the words she said, realizing he was starving and that they had taken a half day. Second was that his beautiful first mate was standing there in a very appealing orange and yellow sundress. Third was that she was seriously not happy with his intense focus and ignoring the girls all day.

“It is past time for you to take a break.” Val began in a stern tone. “I know you get in the zone with things, and we try very hard to accommodate you, but ‘all’ of us are feeling neglected after the last two days. Kristi and I have been trying to get your attention for two hours, but you keep brushing us off. Even poor Rindi keeps waffling between worried and depressed that you have been ignoring her.

“Why is Rind-“ Kurt began to ask but Val held up her hand to silence him.

“Close up shop and come up stairs before we get upset.” Val said, turning on her heel which made the hem of her dress flare to show her very shapely legs. “Two minutes, or else.” She said while stalking off out of the vault and up the stairs.

Priding himself on only being a partial idiot, Kurt threw all his enchanting equipment into the secured boxes and then into the lockers. He was locking the vault door a minute later and up the stairs with seconds to spare while being greeted by an odd sight.

When he entered the living room, he saw Kristi and Val lounging on the couch. There were a few bags, coolers and boxes stacked near the door, clearly waiting to be packed. Standing in the kitchen was Rindi, wearing an apron and holding a plate, obviously meant for him.

“Kurt, I made you lunch. I hope you like it.” She said while putting the plate on the kitchen island.

“Umm, thanks.” Kurt said, confused and getting absolutely no hints from the others.

Sitting down, Kurt looked at the plate. There was a sandwich, identical to what he normally made as far as he could tell. For sides, there was a hefty pile of chips and what looked like fresh cut fruit. All in all, it was a pretty solid lunch choice.

Not thinking anything of it he smiled at Rindi as he took a bite. It was exactly what he expected from a turkey sandwich with cheese, lettuce and onion. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Rindi was still watching him intently. He was about to ask what she wanted when he felt a mental brush from Kristi.

“You had better say something about that sandwich to her.”

Swallowing, Kurt looked back up to Rindi. “Absolutely perfect. Thank you, Rindi.” He gave her as big a smile as he could.

The tigress’ eyes widened and she in turn smiled so wide he could see her elongated canines. “Thank you. I am so happy you like it.” She said and bowed ever so slightly before moving off while he finished his late lunch.

Kurt plowed through the food, having just realized how hungry he had been. The sandwich was cut in half, so he finished the first part then went for the sides before polishing off the other half.

After he was done eating, a relatively quick process, Kurt put his plate away and turned back to the girls. Rindi had wandered off but the other two were up and packing things. Everything was easily fit within the storage rings and disappeared quickly. Clearly everything had been set up to make a point that they were leaving soon.

Val tossed a duffle bag to him. “I packed for you. Swim trunks, hygiene bag, clothes and everything are in there.”

“Thanks, Val.” Kurt said, giving her a kiss on the cheek before turning to Kristi. “So, what was that a-“

“Ah, there you are Rindi.” Kristi said. “Ready to go?”

“I love the look!” Val said with a gasp.

Kurt turned around to where Rindi had walked back into the living room from the hallway. Like Val, she was also wearing a dress, but not exactly what he would call a typical sundress. Hers was a darker pattern, being mostly black with little white flowers on it and cut to hang below the knee. Also, unlike Val’s, her shoulder straps were much wider which worked to support and cover her much larger chest.

She had also done her hair in a pair of French braids that ran down to long tails that hung over her shoulders. The style was similar to how Kristi braided her hair just split which highlighted how much volume the larger woman had.

“What do you think?” She asked, wringing her hands in front of her. She then suddenly perked up and did a slow turn, showing the back of the dress and her hair a little better. Her eyes flicked between each of them as she came back around, landing on Kurt more than once.

“I think you are beautiful.” Kristi said. “How about you Kurt?”

Having to clear his throat, Kurt nodded emphatically. “You are absolutely stunning.” He said and meant it. The black and white pattern really highlighted the coloration of her fur while understating her height by a good margin.

Val clapped her hands together, snapping them out of their inspection of the beautifully imposing woman. “Great, now that we are ready, let’s get going.” She then turned and lead the way to the garage, forcing them all to follow after her.

“What exactly is going on here with Rindi?” Kurt sent a mental message to Kristi and Val. He had been around them enough to know when things were happening behind the scenes. It didn’t help that Rindi had been acting strange the last couple days.

That isn’t to say she was doing anything wrong. Kurt had just noticed that she was acting a little different and normal. She was less reserved and standoffish. She was beginning to engage with them more and even get over her aversion of being in close proximity to them. Where she normally wouldn’t share the same furniture with them, he had seen her practically snuggled up with Kristi as they watched something on her tablet.

Rindi’s change in demeanor was also having an effect on Kurt as he was naturally paying her more attention. Her closer proximity also led to him being the recipient of her laying on him in the snuggle piles. He would also be lying if he said it wasn’t sparking some of the interest he had in her but buried due to their relationship and the slave mark.

“She is working on her confidence and level of comfort.” Val said. “We are trying to make sure she understands that she is one of us and that we support her. The dress is to help with the self-confidence. The comfort will come in as she adjusts to being closer and more open with us. Think of it as an adaptation by saturation…situation.”

“And what about the whole sandwich thing?” Kurt pressed a little more as they pulled out of the driveway and onto the road. His lupine instincts liked it when the girls pointedly made food for him, something that was once again effecting him.

“That’s a confidence thing.” This time Kristi answered. “She has been learning about casual kindness and social interactions. We make you lunch all the time, so she wanted to try making it for us.”

Kurt wasn’t exactly sure about this plan but wouldn’t mess with something they were working on. He did have to say his piece though. “Just make sure you aren’t forcing her into something she doesn’t want to do. I would hate to see her default into a servant dynamic for us after everything we have done to break that mindset.”

“So where are we going?” Kristi asked aloud as Kurt turned toward Traverse City.

“Alec’s grandparents place on Lake Michigan.” Kurt answered. “They got a bit estate with beachfront property not far from TC. It’s pretty private too which helps with the whole para thing.”

Rindi leaned forward to join the conversation from the back seat. “Are you sure they have enough room? Alec made it sound like there would be a couple dozen people there.”

“Oh yeah, they got room.”

Val had turned mostly sideways in the passenger seat as she normally did when there was a lot of talking. “So, big place I assume?”

Smirking at the excitement he was feeling from Val Kurt just kept driving. “You’ll see.”

*****

After nearly an hour of badgering about the house from Val, Kurt pulled into the drive of the Hammersmith estate. He stopped at the keypad that was set up at window height and punched in the code, causing the large gate to slide open.

“Wow, fancy.” Val said, watching the two sides effortlessly glide apart, retracting into the fence that ran around the property.

“You should get something like this.” Kristi added as they pulled in and started up the driveway.

Kurt snorted. “And what, fence in the entire property? With everything I now own, that would be literal millions to do with even the cheapest option.”

“Hmm, yeah, that would be hard with everything you annexed from the state. But still, something around our house and the farm would be nice.”

Val, who had plastered her face to the window to look around, shushed them. “Hey, not now. What’s that?” She pointed to the driveway that split from the one they were on. “Where does that go?”

“The actual house for the grandparents.” Kurt answered. “They have a sort of cottage off on that side”

“Then what is this way?” Val swung her head to look back out the front window.

“You’ll see.” Kurt replied in a teasing tone with a grin that was quickly wiped away as Val swatted him on the arm. “Ow! Hey, it’s like thirty seconds, just chill.”

Slumping in her seat, Val pouted. “Then why don’t you just tell me.”

Kristi leaned forward. “Val, I’m with Kurt here-“

The kitsune wheeled around in her seat, gasping dramatically while clutching a non-existent pearls. “Betrayal of the highest order.”

“-Just enjoy the reveal when it comes around.” Kristi finished, not acknowledging her at all. “Besides, with all the dramatics, you are missing it.” She pointed out the window.

In a maneuver that would give a regular human whiplash, Val was suddenly facing forwards again and leaning forward onto the dash. “Well, this is…”

The driveway continued along though the woods like they had been until they cleared a row of small pine trees that had been placed to help obscure the line of sight from the road. While there was a decent amount of trees between the house and the street, they were mostly hardwoods and could easily be seen through.

Immediately after clearing the row of obscuring foliage, the property opened up to reveal a large circle drive that ran along a few buildings. It was all set under artfully thinned out trees whose tall canopies provided some shade but not enough to completely block the sun from the lush, green grass that evenly covered the surprisingly level lawn.

The buildings themselves were all low, single-story constructions that seemed to sprawl along the drive, breaking the line of sight to the water but allowing glimpses of the lake between them. All of the buildings were single story with steep roofs and long overhangs on the porches and patio areas. They shared a similar style of painted brick but the colors of the trim varied while remaining tastefully subdued.

“Holy crap.” Val mumbled as she took in the sights. “Holy ‘fucking’ crap.” She amended as they kept driving and the scale of the buildings became more apparent.

“I thought they were dwarves.” Kristi said as she and Rindi both ducked lower to see out the front window.

Kurt laughed. “Just because they’re dwarves doesn’t mean they want low ceiling houses or to live underground.”

Rindi decided enough was enough and just rolled down her window to stick her head part way out. “Do they not have a basement for these?”

“Well… yeah. But that’s beside the point.” Kurt realized what he implied and had to correct himself. He knew very well that this particular property had an extensive underground that they probably wouldn’t need to use, due to it being summer.

They continued along the drive until they saw the familiar faces of Alec and Na coming out of the larger main building. Kurt drove over to them, stopping between a blacked out Cadilliac sedan and a bone stock Honda civic.

Rolling the window down, Kurt leaned out to shout to Alec. “Where are we staying?”

“You’re choice of the lofts or the pool house.” Alec pointed to the two slightly smaller buildings they had driven past.

“Lofts it is.” Kurt replied immediately.

Na smiled and waved to the girls as she approached the window. “Great, you will be near us then. We held two rooms on the ground level with the balcony for you, just in case. We will tell Mikey so he can mark them off.”

“What the hell are they talking about?” Kristi whispered as Kurt put it in reverse to head back to the first building they passed and its side parking area. “Who is Mikey?”

“Did they say something about a pool?” Rindi asked, looking around.

Val scrunched her nose in the cute way that meant she was thinking. “Why do they have a pool when there is a lake?”

Kurt put the car in park and hopped out, all the girls following his lead. “Well, that lake turns to an icy deathtrap for a few months per year, so pools are nice. Also, theirs are heated so they stay nice and warm in the colder months, like giant hot tubs.”

As Kurt lead the way, Val practically danced around them, moving from one side of the group to the other while trying to see everything all at once. When he pushed open the door, she scurried under his arm and lead the charge down a short but wide hallway before skidding to a stop.

“Woah.”

“Yup, woah.” Kurt agreed as the rest of the group joined her on what was essentially a large, indoor balcony.

The entire back of the house was floor to ceiling glass that ran from the lower level to the very top of the main floor. The balcony they stood on overlooked an open and spacious area that was completely enclosed and broken up into several seating areas. There were sections that were partitioned by half walls to leave the area feeling open while breaking up the otherwise very cavernous room.

“Yeah, if you think that’s something, you might want to check out the pool house.” Alec’s voice rang out as he and Na entered behind them while they took in the sights. “The rooms are pretty nice too. Kinda like hotel rooms but not shit.”

Na slapped his shoulder. “What he means to say is that the rooms are laid out to provide privacy as well as comfort.”

Rindi turned from the couple to Kurt before asking her question. “Why didn’t we choose the pool house?”

Kurt ignored the strange looks everyone was giving her and answered. “Because it’s very rowdy.” When that wasn’t enough, he elaborated. “Not sure if it is still the case-“

“It is.” Alec confirmed with a sigh.

“Right. Well, the pool house has the bar, well one of the bars, and is where everyone sorta congregates. That leads to drinking and partying that even dwarven soundproofing can’t keep out for those with heightened hearing.” He tapped his slightly pointed ears.

“Ah, well then this might be for the best.” Rindi agreed, trying to shrink back behind Kristi, putting the dragoness between her and the relative strangers.

Val was still looking around the balcony but paused long enough to come back to the group. “So, you guys just keep this place as a party house?”

Alec chuckled. “Nah, it has other purposes. The family likes to use it for holidays and the regular get togethers. All of us pile in at least five times a year. Those of us who are still local anyway. The ones who moved out of state still try to make the high holidays.”

“Christmas?” Val half asked, half assumed.

“No, we go big on New Years and the Fourth of July.” Alec answered.

When she saw the confusion, Na offered some more detail. “Drinking and fireworks.”

“Ahhhh.” Kristi and Val said at the same time as they realized that would fit the traditional dwarven pastimes.

“Well, let’s get you all into rooms and we can go for a tour of the rest of the house.” Alec said and gestured toward the two open doors behind them.

*****

While Kurt and company were off enjoying a long weekend, Jay was making sure their recent uninvited guests were not enjoying a long ‘enhanced interrogation’. He even hummed a little tune from one of his favorite operas that hadn’t seen a stage since the turn of the 18th century.

The Order, of course, had cells a plenty for the people they took into custody. They were divided into several categories based on who or what they had captured. All of them were based in a central detainment facility that was shaped like a large cube. It was also isolated from the rest of the Order pocket dimension and could be severed from it if needed.

Some of the lower halls had simple holding rooms for people that they wanted to question before being released, which were clean and moderately comfortable. On the next level, there were the rooms that held the more ‘forcibly acquired’ people who got hard benches and concrete walls. Above that was the containment rooms which would magically isolate the most dangerous of captives.

All of those were on separate floors that surrounded a central interior facility that was designed for extracting information…. or just making a point. Jay really preferred the extracting information part as it was rather pointless to make examples out of most people they took prisoner. Not that he was beyond extracting a pound of flesh from the more vile offenders.

Stopping at a room in the interior portion marked ‘2-24 - Questioning’, Jay badged his way through the door. He passed the observation room, pausing to wave at the trio of guards who watched the people within. Those same people had been the ones to transfer the observed group from their cells directly across the hall.

Justin Winslow was also there with two of his wolves and nodded respectfully to Jay. “Hey boss. Got a stubborn crowd today.”

Jay huffed a laugh. “Ha! And I thought the French would have been the difficult ones, but they proved me wrong. Any winners in there?”

Shrugging, Justin returned to looking through the window. “Maybe. We took five of the eight from the frogs so hopefully these ones net more.”

“Guess we will see if these ones pass the sniff test.” Jay drawled before placing his hand on the door and pushing through. He ignored the rude gesture that Justin gave him and focused on the job at hand.

“Good afternoon.” Jay greeted as he entered the interrogation room where 11 people were chained to a series of benches facing a lonely desk with two chairs.

All of the people immediately looked up as he entered. He was thankful that none of them spoke as quelling the tide of chatter was always difficult without resorting to extreme measures. Still, he walked over to the desk and placed his folder on it before sitting down.

“Not in a mood for pleasantries?” He asked after nobody greeted him in return. “Alright, we can get straight to business then.”

He opened the folder, revealing the information packet he had accumulated about these agents of the British government. “Listen, we know exactly who you are, where you come from and who you work for. There is no point in trying to lie about it.”

As was always the case, someone decided to deny it anyway. “We have no idea what you are talking about.” One man said, leaning forward as far as his shackles would allow.

“There’s always one.” Jay sighed and slid a paper out of his folder. “Kennith Rowman, age thirty-six of Chelmsford. Came to the site via van after a border crossing from Canada which he entered on private jet six days ago. Currently employed by the ministry of defense for the United Kingdom, MI6 division. You are formerly of the Royal Marines and were recruited after passing SAS selection three years ago. Your parents are Adam and Chelsea, still in Chemsford while your older brother has moved north to Colchester where he lives with… Blah, blah, blah. Need I go on?”

Seeing that the faces before him were suitably pale, he continued. “As I was saying, we know who you are and who you work for. What we don’t know is what you came for, other than we have a pretty good suspicion. So, are you going to tell me or do I have to pull it out of you?”

“Our country won’t stand for this.” Kennith muttered, still acting as speaker for the group, though more subdued.

“Kenny, listen, I have already contacted your government about you and your less fortunate fellows who are in body bags. They played the same card you tried and denied everything. When I presented them with evidence showing we know, they only acknowledged that you had left the country several days ago.

“I am going to assume that they are already notifying your next of kin as they refused all further communication.” Jay was watching the expressions of all the people turn from resolve to despair as he spoke. “So, I want to know if you want to be cooperative and alive or dead and useful. Which is it?”

“Dead and useful?” A woman in the back asked the person next to her in a whisper.

“Yes, Brittany.” Jay seized on that moment to make a threat. “We have a quite the accomplished necromancer group who are always looking to make more people into undead for our less pleasant manual labor jobs. It’s how we keep costs down and payroll high.”

Seeing the group’s looks of despair turn to abject horror, Jay continued. “So, all those in favor of being cooperative and alive?” He raised his hand as an example.

It came as no surprise that all the captives raised their hands as far as the chains would allow. They all knew that the information they had would be extracted one way or another. This option was more preferable to eternal torment as an undead slave.