Chapter 10

Later that same day

Pacific Heights neighborhood

San Francisco, California

Dardenys surveyed her nighttime kingdom thoughtfully from the balcony of her penthouse apartment. The lights of the city and the distance bridge sparkled like gems against the velvet backdrop of night. For some reason, she was very reflective this evening, perhaps because she could begin to see her years-long plan coming together.

As she surveyed her luxurious surroundings, she realized just how far she had come from the cold gray world of ash and soul-chilling winds where she had been born. The luxury of the apartment meant nothing to her. It was just a convenient way of illustrating to her human underlings that she was at the top of the food chain. But it had been a hard struggle to get here.

At first, there had been the hard streets and fighting and killing for survival in her new home. She had found that she was uniquely suited for this type of struggle. Her small magics gave her powers over the mundane criminals she dealt with as did her unique biology which made her nearly impossible to kill. She first survived, and then she thrived- and none could stand against her.

But it hadn’t been enough. Once her survival in this strange land was assured she felt there had to be more to her purpose than just survival.

Dardenys would never have considered herself a thinker back in her world. In that harsh place, survival had been far too much a concern to allow for anything but immediate needs. But here she had first felt alone and then determined to change what fate had dealt her and her kind.

Once she had determined her goal, things almost ‘magically’ fell into place. She had somehow developed an inner voice that guided her intuition in many ways and never failed her. And then there was the contact from the strange shadowy group that wanted her assistance, they had access to technical and material resources that she did not. She quickly understood that she could bend their agenda to fit her plan while knowing that she would be just another tool to them.

Now her final plan was about to come to fruition. All the pieces were whirling in motion but destined to land in the correct places. She just had to see that nothing would come undone in these last few days.

“Yarys, what is the status of the shipment?” said Dardenys.

“It will be complete and ready for the last stage in three days, mistress,” said a voice behind her, standing guard at the door.

Yarys had been one of twenty of her kind she had managed to pull into this world from hers. It had taken her nearly a year to find and bend the proper scientist to her will, but she had succeeded in getting the stolen canister to work a few months ago. Now, she had a nearly invincible inner cohort that considered her next to godlike for bringing them into a land of warmth, light, and plenty.

But it was an extremely difficult way to do things and it wasn’t sufficient for her ultimate goal. She had been told she had one more use of the canister before it failed. It had never been designed for the forces her pet scientist had put it through. She had to make this time count.

“And the last stage itself? Were you able to get confirmation that our friends had found someone to handle it?”

“Yes, Mistress. There was some problem with the military expertise required, but they assured me it had been straightened out,”

“Yes, it was unfortunate that our men couldn’t do the work needed themselves. Very well. I’m concerned about the handoff and the subsequent clean up though. We must fulfill our contract in every aspect. Detail two men to accompany me. I want to personally oversee it.”

“Of course, Mistress- I will assign two of our best,” replied Yarys.

Dardanys trusted no human’s word, but Yarys had been the first one of her kind she had rescued and she knew him to not only be extremely competent but also loyal to a fault. It didn’t hurt that it was almost impossible for a human to lie to him undetected. He was a worthy

Second, quite capable of running the daily operations while she was putting in place elements of her greater plan.

For a short time, she had even considered him as a possible mate. She had not taken one yet and had been sorely tempted, but they just didn’t mesh that way. Her kind relied on subtle scent cues for much of their social interactions and she could just tell that she and Yarys were not a match no matter how much she valued him otherwise.

“Are we complete with the cleanup across the sea yet?”

“The team I sent there yesterday will finish the last of them off by tonight, our time,” replied Yarys.

“Good, that will leave no one to tell stories.”

Or perhaps more accurately- there would be no one to tell stories other than those the group she represented wanted to be told. Dardenys was no fool, she knew they were laying a false scent trail but truthfully she didn’t care enough to try and unravel it. Subtlety in any form was not her forte and she gave not the least thought about removing her Bratva peers in Europe. They were just more scum in somewhat nicer clothing than here. She was undoubtedly doing this world a favor.

“Yes, mistress. Pardon me, but won’t this shut down access to our networks?”

“Yes this is true Yarys, but after next week we will no longer require them anyway,”

“Ah, I see, thank you for explaining mistress. Will there be anything else tonight?” replied Yarys.

To fulfill her contract they’d had to use every favor, blackmail, extortion, and bribe that they could come up with to get sufficient quantities of the materials needed. Without the contacts and influence of her silent partner, it was unlikely that they could have come up with even a small percentage of it. Of course, the shadowy people she was dealing with didn’t have her group’s ability to move the materials through six different countries without a snag or they wouldn’t have needed her.