Fae Second Chance

Chapter 18 - Jordan P.O.V.

Chapter 18

Jordan P.O.V.

I walk into the seafood restaurant.  It is not my favorite place to eat but it does have a huge very private banquet hall I use to schedule important meetings.  It also helps that the restaurant is located in the middle of the downtown area, so it is convenient to everyone.  I also know most of the staff here.  They are humans and magic, and both are paid well to keep silent about who comes in here.  That being said, there are many corporate deals being made here daily.  There are also many cheating spouses meeting their lover for a meal.  I always love to see the guy in at lunch with his girlfriend and then dinner the same night with his wife.  No, I don’t come here too often, I think sarcastically.  I shake my head to myself.  I really need to find a new meeting spot.

I stop at the hostess’s stand and ask her if squid is one of today specials.  I hate passwords.  Especially stupid passwords like squid.  Who in the world orders squid for lunch?  It’s not like the hostess and wait staff doesn’t know who I am and who I am meeting.  This is one of the silliest things we do.  But it makes people feel safe, so we do it.

The young woman nods to me and grabs a menu to shows me to my seat.  She leads me through the restaurant to the back room.  I grab the menu from her as I pass her and walk into the room.  Another stupid thing we do, keep the light turned down low, ‘to hid our identities.’  I know exactly who each person is, and I know their families for good grief.  I am not a good spy.  I cannot stand this cloak and dagger BS they insist we do.

I was recruited to this cause since I worked with an international company that sent me out to different offices across the world.  The fact that I can hide my fae side made me the perfect asset.  It didn’t hurt that my human husband was the mayor of Border City.  We never discussed my extracurricular activities.  He needs to be able to state he knows nothing about it if I am ever caught. But I know he has an idea about it.  He occasionally leaves folders with documents that have helped our cause on the counter at home ‘by accident’. 

I sit down at the table and Jason; our fearless leader; starts to go over the information we have gathered about Amelia and John’s real purpose in Border City.  I was assigned to get close to Amelia and see what she knows about John’s side project.  The more I spoke to her, the more I realized she does not know anything about what John is doing.  Seriously, she didn’t even know she was a fae.  The girl is naïve.  Smart as a whip but blind to her husband.  As Jason is going over all the details everyone has reported to him, I stop him.

“We need to bring Amelia in.”

“No, we can’t,” Jason states.  “She may still be a part of this.”

“Please,” I huff out, “I have been spending nearly a year with the woman.  She doesn’t have a clue about what is going on and she is getting really close to finding out the truth and when she does, she is going to get caught!”

“So, it doesn’t effect what we are doing.”

“Really Jason, you are okay with an innocent fae being hurt?  I thought that was why we formed this group to go out and help the magic beings still caught on the human side of the wall.”

“Greater Good, Jordan.  I cannot risk everything for a fae who is betraying her own people, even if she did it innocently.”

I am staring at Jason like I don’t even know him anymore.  Jason is meeting my glare without even flinching.  He is serious.  He will sacrifice Amelia if he thinks it will protect the overall magic side.  I know that Amelia is innocent in all this and needs protection.  I can’t just leave her.  She has become my friend.

“I can pull her out without linking it back to John’s Project.”

“How?”  Jason looks really annoyed with my statement.

“Well, you know John is cheating on her.  I do not think she knows about it.  If she found out, that would be a reason for her to leave.”

“Are you sure she would leave him?  Many women stay with their cheating spouses, especially if they are powerful, wealthy men.  Also, how do you plan on her,” Jason then fingers quotes “Finding Out?”

I caught off guard for a moment and look around the table for help.  No one is meeting my eyes but Jason with a sadistic grin on his face.  “I am not sure.  A stray love note.  Maybe getting her to meet me for lunch at a restaurant we know he is meeting his mistress.”

Jason is tapping his fingers on the table and staring directly at me.  He knows I am serious about this, and I can see the wheels turning in his mind.  I will arrange a lunch and I do have the contact to make sure John is there.  “We do have some people working at their apartment building.  It is possible to get them to leave some evidence in a place only Amelia will see it.”  Jason pauses and stands up and leans towards me, “But, I do not want you going anywhere John can associate you with this.”

I nod. I can live with that.  “So, we can bring her in?”

Jason sits down and steeples his fingers, “No, we will help you get her away from John.  But I do not trust that she isn’t a part of John’s ultimate plan.  Until we know we can trust her, she cannot know about us.”

“Alright.  When can you have the evidence planted?”

“I don’t know yet.  We have to determine what evidence we can plant, and I need to do some research on the mistress.  I will admit I haven’t paid much attention to her, other than she is human and moved here about the same time as John and Amelia.  I have to determine what type of evidence we can get from her.  It needs to be real and massive.  John cannot have a legitimate reason to have it, for this to work.”

I go on question him more on the plan I can see forming in his mind.

He holds up his hand to stop my questing, “And you cannot know what it is or when we plant it.”

“What? Why?”

“You need to be surprised when she tells you about it.  And I do not trust your acting ability to hide that you knew something about this.”

I cross my arms across my check and pout, “Fine.”

Jason chuckles at my childish behavior.  Jason is older than me.  During the awakening his parents were killed and he barely escaped being caught by the humans.  He lived on the streets for years and when the war started, he proved that he could lead people even as a teenager and he has an impressive strategic mind. 

My story was so much calmer.  When the awakening happened, my parent noticed that I was now different.  They hid me away until they found out about a rural area in South America that was not persecuting the magic.  My life was idyllic in South America.  The farming community was very close and protective, and I ran wild and free.  I learned multiple languages from the other refugees and developed my ability with the help from some of the other magic people hiding there.  I discovered early on how to hide my fae features so when soldiers finally did come through, I looked human, and no one questioned my existence.  We were just a human American family that didn’t want to be part of the war.  As a community we hid those who couldn’t hide their magic looks.  The soldiers soon started to leave us alone.

We hid there until after the treaty in America was signed.  I was a teenager when we came back to the magic side.  My parents wanted us someplace safe.  Even though the farming community protected us, it wasn’t a guarantee that their government would keep turning a blind eye to the magic there and wouldn’t c***k down on them someday.  Many of the magic went with us to the magic side in America and waited until their homes were safe too.  Truthfully everyone wanted to go home.  My family still sends some of the elders in that community money to help them out. 

I met Peter when I moved to Border City for my job.  He was a young businessman and politician wanting to bridge the gap between the magic and humans.  He hated what was done to the magic and hated the division of the country.  I heard him speak at an event I was attending, and I was immediately drawn to him.  I don’t believe at love at first sight, but he was a light in the darkness, but he was human.  I never wanted to be involved with a human.  Yet Peter apparently was drawn to me too and pursued me.  I was such a b***h to him.  But his actions spoke so much louder than his words. 

I watched as his political career slowly died because he wanted everyone to be included.  The magic didn’t trust the humans and the humans didn’t trust the magic and neither wanted his inclusion ideas to become reality.  But he kept lobbying for more inclusion activities and places within the city.  He never advocated for not allowing the people to live separately if they wanted too but he kept stressing that we need to be able to work and LIVE together if we are going to survived.  He wanted it to be the people’s choice, not the governments.  Slowly he won hearts and mind and eventually he was elected mayor of the city.  No one was surprised that he married a magic woman or that he started a housing community that was for both the magic and human.  Soon the community he invested in started to boom and everyone who was anyone wanted to live there.  The idea started to spread and now there are only a few pockets of areas that are human or magic only.  Most of the city is now pleasantly mixed and everyone works together. 

The ‘side’ organization I work for is now headquartered in Border City.  The inclusive atmosphere makes it easier for the different agents to come and go without any questions.  We have magic and human alike working with us to help the magic mainly on the human side survive.  Many of them don’t want to leave their homes.  Places their family has lived for generations.  So, we send them support such as spells and potions to hide their magic side.  We help them learn how to teach their kids about their magic side and have avenues available for them if they need to escape in a hurry for any reason.

On the international side there are still places where humans and magic people are tortured and killed.  We help get them out if possible.  We help the people in those country lobby and bribe their governments to create treaties and safe places for magic people.  Our goals are to protect the magic beings without any more bloodshed on either side of the battle.  Peace begets Peace, well that is our hope.