Page 25 of Resurrection
“But I crave your blood,” he sounded almost apologetic. “The taste was…”
“Yeah, witch’s blood has a kick,” Seiran agreed. “And since I’m the Pillar, it sort of means blood on steroids to you guys.” He made his way to the door and pulled up the app to request a driver and a specialized car with tinted windows, just in case. He had no idea how he was going to explain the vampire at the office. Though in reality, he shouldn’t have to. As Director of MI and the Pillar of Earth, he shouldn’t have been dancing on a short leash. If only those things got him the accreditation he deserved.
“That is an understatement,” Gabe muttered as he followed. “Forest, come,” he commanded, and strangely enough, the golem did as Gabe said. Using Seiran’s magic? Or death magic? Seiran wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
* * *
The car ridehad been almost eerily silent. Seiran crammed in the middle of the back seat of a specialized SUV with Gabe on one side, and the golem on the other. The golem stopped fidgeting when Sei touched him, almost like the pull on it stopped? Or was muffled?
It left a lot of questions. Was earth not stronger than death? Was there a way to muffle the creator’s bond permanently, or until Seiran could figure out who that was? Would another creature of death magic, like a vampire, have better control of it?
If things went Sei’s way today, he’d hopefully be able to unravel the golem before heading home this evening. One less problem would help ease his growing anxiety.
Gaining entry to the Dominion building was more annoying than usual. The guard on the front desk, a rotation of witches with strong telekinetic abilities, usually air witches, often gave him crap. He brushed it off as teasing most days. The checking of his badge, his sign-in process, and scrutiny they gave his file. Today, filling out visitor forms nearly had him at his breaking point.
“Enough,” Seiran growled at them. “The golem is part of the current investigation, and I’m not filling out fucking forms for it.” He’d already created a half dozen for Gabe, since he wasn’t normally authorized personnel.
“Policy…” the witch began.
“I’m the Director of Magical Investigations,” Seiran reminded her.
“That doesn’t excuse you from the rules,” the witch snarked back.
This was why so few men still worked for the Dominion. Kelly didn’t have an office job. He was the Pillar of Water, and head of a private school for witches. Jamie was a nurse practitioner now, and these things were why. There were less than a handful of men working in the Dominion at all. And to this day, Seiran was still the only one with a high-ranking position. Most witches assumed that was because his mother was still regional director. How they explained away the fact that he was the Pillar of Earth, he didn’t know. But with the constant bullshit they were given, it made sense why so few wanted anything to do with official channels and Dominion politics.
Men shouldn’t have power over magic. It wasagainst the natural order of thingsthe vocal influencers shouted from the rooftops, or at least their media platforms. There were still media outlets that called him infidel and a dozen other terrible things. Everyone waiting with bated breath for him to turn into some sort of raving madman so they could burn him at the stake in a public display of why men shouldn’t have magic. Not that they couldn’t, butshouldn’t.
Seiran was tired. Tired of the politics, of being second-guessed, and putting up with people’s bullshit when he had a job to do. He let out the earth. Felt the warmth of Her flow over him. The floor at his feet bloomed with moss and flowers, and the reception desk where he rested his hands began to crack as plants erupted from its surface. He knew from his experience that his hair would take on a shade of green, and flowers would weave through it. His eyes would glow with the pulsing power of the earth. A small thing to call Her forward, a little show of how aligned She was with him, how much She approved of him. He wasn’t a figurehead stuffed into a role, he was power, Father Earth, as selected by the Goddess herself.
“As the Pillar of Earth, chosen by the Goddess, I am allowed my servants, and none but Her is allowed to question me,” Seiran said, stating the Dominion doctrine as though it were a bible quote. He glanced at Gabe and added, “That belongs to me, and to the earth.”
The guards stepped back from the desk. Fear and surprise palpable on their faces. It gave Seiran no satisfaction. But it wasn’t even the first time he’d had to flex a little power in his own workplace. Each time it would result in a changing of staff, and eventually re-education. He’d get a few weeks, sometimes even a few months of a semi-respect before there was a changing of the guards again. It was as though the Dominion cycled through staff to ensure they didn’t gain respect for him. And he’d long since stopped trying to make nice with anyone outside his department.
He was so done with it. Maybe it was time for him to retire, too. Find another job, less full of bullshit and more rewarding. He knew of a handful of field agents that were qualified. He’d have to pull them back from overseas to take up the position, but maybe they’d want that? Something more stable than running around the world chasing magic? The only reason he’d stayed as long as he had was for the stability of his home life. His kids needed him, so he’d endured. Maybe they were old enough to have him away a couple days a week? He’d have to have a family meeting about it before he made any major decisions. And solve the golem problem, which meant dealing with the bullshit a bit longer.
He sighed and stalked past the desk and to the elevator that would take them down to the dark depths of the archives. He had never been moved to the main level with all the other directors. Hadn’t let it bother him much since he didn’t have to spend more than a meeting or two a week with the bunch. But now, it irritated him.
Maybe that was having Gabe close? Or the golem tugging at his energy? Or maybe he was just getting old. He felt the Goddess begin to recede as he stepped into the box, though behind him a trail of growing things etched his footsteps into the stone. Gabe entered the elevator and took a spot in the back corner. Forest found a spot near the side. The golem’s fidgeting had stopped again, though it gazed at Seiran with a sort of disturbing and hungry look. For Seiran’s power? Or his blood?
Before Seiran could close the door, Director Han put her hand on the edge and stepped inside. “Good of you to finally join us, Rou,” she said as she let the door close and hit the button for the basement level.
“Director Han,” Seiran greeted without warmth. She was a high-level fire witch, at least as old as his mother. He often wondered why she hadn’t stepped down to give one of her children her spot. Not much within the Dominion was earned anymore. The entire structure was a hierarchical mess. A handful of witch families ruling like royalty, when, in fact, their power was waning. Perhaps none of her children were powerful enough to take the reins from her.
She stared at the golem and Gabe, arms crossed over her chest, and facing them directly, which was strange elevator behavior Seiran knew was meant to make them uncomfortable. But neither reacted. Forest, likely because it wasn’t human at all, and Gabe, because his attention was still on Seiran. While the vampire’s gaze was intense, it wasn’t uncomfortable, more a meditative awareness, as though Gabe was using Seiran as the Focus he was meant to be.
“We’ve already questioned your witnesses,” Han said.
“What?” Seiran growled. “That’s not your place.”
“Their families didn’t want to wait around until you decided to roll in. Some of us were here early.”
“And I was in the office until after nine last night. I can hold any of them without charges for up to a week. But I wouldn’t expect you to know that since you’re not part of MI, and I’d say none of this is your place.”
“You’re out of line,DirectorRou,” she said, as though he didn’t deserve the title. The door to the elevator opened to the nearly empty basement area. “I’ve left the reports on your desk.”
“You let them go?” Seiran was incredulous. “They were in possession of a golem created through death magic.” He pointed at the golem in question. “You let them walk without being questioned by my department? And I’m out of line?”
“Death magic isn’t a thing, Mr. Rou,” Han said, seeming to suddenly forget he was Director. “I would have thought you learned that in college.”