Fate's Enforcer: Chosen by Fate: Book 1 by Adam Lance & Anne Ominous

Author:Adam Lance & Anne Ominous [Lance, Adam & Ominous, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pivot Press, LLC
Published: 2024-06-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13: Changelings

They had time to relax, so Alex and Grace found chairs and settled in. He brought up his Tablet and dove into reviewing Accords he might need for the mission ahead. Focusing his attention, he brought up the device’s version of a Search function which allowed him to find agreements based on the signatories.

“What are you doing?” Grace asked, leaning over to peek at the screen. The feeling of her breast against his arm was both a comfort and a mild distraction.

“Eh? Going through the Accords, looking for anything Dwayne or any other locals with licensing authority may have signed recently. In theory, I should be able to track down those thralls who tried to kidnap you.”

“In theory?”

“Yeah. Wait, you’re a fae. Don’t you know about how these things work already?”

She shook her head. “Just being a fae doesn’t mean I know everything. I’m a cocktail waitress at a casino. Before that...” Trailing off, she bit her bottom lip.

Reaching over, he put his hand on top of hers, squeezing gently. An instant rush of relief washed over her face, and she smiled at him with such warmth that it nearly broke his heart.

Oh, Grace. What happened to you over there?

She pointed at his Tablet. “C’mon, Mister Enforcer man. How about you keep telling me how things work? I want to know.”

“Really?”

“I care about what you care about, silly magical human man.”

Chuckling at her playful tone, he said, “Fine. I guess the first thing you need to know is fae magi-tech isn’t like human technology. My Tablet is based on human tech, but everything it’s connected to is outdated. Plus, the very way fae make agreements is centuries behind how humans do things.”

“Like what?”

Settling into a topic he knew all too well, Alex wrapped an arm around the puca’s shoulders. His Tablet hovered in the air as he explained, “Like thrall licenses, for example. They are basically just magical sheets of paper the Fates, or someone the Fates appoint, get to hand out. We have a record of which people are authorized to dispense them, and how many they should have, but that’s just in theory. In practice, thrall licenses are just bits of paper. They can be traded or handed out to anyone.”

Grace shifted, turning to lean more of her weight into him. “Why not computerize all of it, like regular human law enforcement?”

“Because magic. The fae don’t want anything humans could stumble on and use against them. The last thing we need is a bunch of Dreamers waking up.” He flipped to a screen, skimming rapidly. “These documents are all organized haphazardly, and the search function is pretty awful. A lot of these trade agreements will have a subclause buried somewhere that mentions thralls. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to find something that I can use in my official capacity, when the time comes.”

“Isn’t that the point of this investigation? To find out who is breaking Fate’s law?”

“True. But I’d rather go in with my tabard on, rather than find an issue after there’s a gun in someone’s face.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.