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Special Agent Camille Adams had never been in the bowels of the Library of Congress before. The report she’d given her superiors at the FBI about the events in California bore little resemblance to the dossier in her briefcase. The trek ended at a wall that, only when she concentrated, could she find the door behind the illusion. A long corridor opened up before her and she made her way to the office at the end. The stenciled name on the glass door read, “Warren G. Harding, Director of Special Archives.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“So many people have no clue who he even was,” an older man with large glasses said as he came around a stack of books. “I am Dr. Harding and how are you Agent Adams?”
She eyed him cautiously. “I’m fine, but how…”
“Did I know who you are? Knowing things is what we are all about.” The man motioned for her to follow him. “This way please. We have a conference room where we can discuss everything that you can’t put on paper.”
They went back up the long corridor and through a door that was unmarked. Agent Adams gasped at the glass room that looked down on a vast collection of books and other items. “How on earth?”
“Amazing what you can find that people forget about. This was part of an old bomb shelter and attached to an underground railway. It was easy to commandeer.” He smiled again and began gathering more material on the table.
“We’ve been collecting items and treasures from across the globe for centuries. This place became the safest place in the early Twentieth Century. Please have a seat.” Dr. Harding sat down and opened a binder in front of him. “This is the FBI report from over the summer that detailed the individuals relating to what we now call the Hale Clan. It was much smaller then.” He pulled up the first file. He motioned to a tea service on the table. “Please have a cup. It is delightful.”
She poured her a cup and doctored it. “What do you want to know?”
The first file was opened and arranged. “Derek James Hale, age 24. Nothing has changed concerning his education. We now know that his personal net worth is over twenty million dollars. But there is the matter of the incidents in early November. We will come back to this. There is the matter related to the change in his eye color that needs to be explored.
“Peter Matthew Hale, age 41. His law license has been reinstated and controls, at the behest of Derek, the family trust, which sits in excess of four hundred fifty million dollars. His personal net worth is in excess of one hundred fifty million dollars. He refers to himself as a Gamma wolf.” He pulled out an older file and added her information to the top.
“We find it interesting that since the summer Mr. Hale has spent almost a million dollars for obscure books. He now has a rare grimoire in his collection. Moreover, House Hale has suddenly become the custodians of the largest collection of occult and arcane books and artifacts on the west coast. Many things that were in Los Angeles and in San Francisco are now in their care. Peter Hale is adding to this collection at a rapid clip.”
“We also know that he is trying to find the last missing Hale. We’ve tried since that came to our attention, but we found only the trails that Cora and Cameron left in retrospect.”
Agent Adams leaned forward after flipping through a few files. “How do you know this? There is stuff here that is very old on this family.”
“My dear, we have ways of knowing all kinds of things. We can access all kinds of information that the Treasury has. The IRS can be a valuable tool when necessary. What we haven’t been able to do is penetrate their internal communications.” He sipped his tea and motioned for her to drink as well.
“We know, for instance, what the most likely destination for the graduating students next fall will be. The transfer paperwork has already gone through for Cameron Hale. He’ll graduate from Stanford in a little over a year. Mr. Stilinski, Ms. Martin, and Mr. Mahealani will also be attending Stanford. Cora Hale, Mr. Whittemore, Ms. Argent, and Mr. Boyd will be attending Berkeley. Mr. McCall, Mr. Lahey, the twins, and Ms. Reyes will all be attending Davis. We find the logistics of this to be interesting.
“We learned this through their texting and other non secure communications. But they are very tight-lipped about things that go on regarding the supernatural.”
She nodded. “As they should be. But how do you know so much?”
He pulled out a few more folders and shuffled through her papers. He organized them and then looked at her. “John Randolph Stilinski, age 44. The Sheriff of Beacon Hills County and the primary protector of the Hale clan since he is an elected official. The fact that he knows so much is both a blessing and a curse. You will have to watch him carefully from your office in San Francisco, but we will come back to that.
“Christopher Gerard Argent, age 43. Primary shareholder in Argent Firearms, Its annual sales are in excess of fifty million dollars. What we find curious is Mr. Argent has removed himself from the Hunters profession, but still arms many of them. His romantic liaison with Peter Hale doesn’t appear to be letting up which is of some note. Of even further interest is his company has bought a research facility in about an hour outside of Beacon Hills.
“Melissa Elizabeth McCall, age 40. Now she is the most puzzling of all. She has two aunts who claim to be brujas. She may have some of that gift. Her nursing career has been exemplary. We don’t underestimate her, but many who have dealt with her have, much to their eventual dismay.”
Dr. Harding looked up from those files and stared at Agent Adams. “This is the essence of what we do. We’ve been at this a long time. We watch and we wait.” He waited for her to finish her cup of tea. A slow smile graced his face as he watched her.
“That tea is a very special blend. You won’t be able to remember anything we discuss or tell a lie. You won’t even remember coming down here. But you will provide us with needed information.” He stood and helped her out of the room and down into the main vault of the archives. There were a few tables set up with maps on them and counters.
“We track large disturbances in magic and date them. Halloween, with its massive changeover in Mantles of Power warranted a counter in Chicago. Chichen Itza and the fall of the Red Court warranted a massive flag. That one event though the Mayans got wrong. The end of the world has already happened. The great stability of magic, as it has been for more than an eon, is over.”
She sat down on a stool and frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“The dams of magic were broken. The dry period of magic is over and it springs from wells again all over the planet.” He motioned for several points. “The Time of Change has arrived and it is up to us to manage the fallout.”
“How so?” She looked at the table and frowned. “Giza, Stonehenge, Angkor Wat, Chichen Itza, many of these are ancient places.”
“Places of power don’t move much.” He pulled out a book from a side table and handed it to her. “My order has watched for millennia. We know what few in humanity that aren’t mocked know. We survived the destruction of the Atlantean Empire as that great island was lost. We saw the rise of fragmented empires in its wake. Most Times of Change are upheavals, but the one that rewrote humanity was twelve thousand years ago. We fear this Time of Change could be just as devastating.”
“Wait? History started only five thousand years ago!” She sat up and looked at the maps. “What are you talking about?”
Dr. Harding laughed and motioned above him. “All of what you think you know is managed fiction. Eons ago humanity was different. And it grew powerful and arrogant. But the beauty of mind, body, and soul was enthralling. It tempted many immortals to cross over to this plane and mix. It was the Age of Myths, shrouded in mystery now with such loss and passage of time. The foundation of many myths came from that era. The crossing over…this angered many ‘deities’ and triggered most of the destruction myths foremost being the flood myths.” He sighed and cleaned his glasses. “So much was lost back then. What could be salvaged has been.”
He picked up a tablet and looked at her. He typed in a few things and on one of the displays popped up another bio. “Cameron Joseph Hale, age 21. Will be an engineer soon. But is the rare wolf who can touch and manipulate magic. He’s handsome in a way all the Hale men are.
“Lydia Elaine Martin, age 17. The math genius and budding sorceress. We think she could be a pre-cog. She was considered by the hunters to be the most dangerous member of the pack. That is saying something.
“Scott David McCall, age 17. A raised alpha and son of an FBI agent. He is already on the path to being a veterinarian. He is considered the conscience of the pack.
“Jackson Carter Whittemore, age 17. Now this one is interesting. He referred to himself as a Hale at the White Court party in October. If he does become a lawyer then a new Hale law firm may be in the works.”
Agent Adams stood and started to pace. “Who are you exactly? You know too much to be simple librarians.”
He gave her a long look and cleaned his glasses again. “We are Watchers. Exiles if you will. We were neutral when we should have taken sides. We aided and enhanced mankind when we should have watched. And in the end a few of us survived the purge. We count Time and now see if we can’t survive. At one point we were hunted, but now I doubt any pay attention to us, since we’ve hidden for so long.”
“What does this have to do with the Hales and events in California?” She frowned and leaned against the wall.
He laughed and motioned all around them. “You who saw a battle the likes which hadn’t been witnessed in over a thousand years ask for meaning? Do you not see some of the points of power are not in ancient places? There are gateways to other realms hidden across this plane. They are remnants from Age of Myths. There are reasons we try to manage the fallout.”
She pick up another book and flipped through it. Something on the page caught her attention and she started to read. “What else happened in the lost past?”
He shrugged and moved another bio to the screen. “Allison Marie Argent, age 18. Olympic level archery talent and has the feel of something greater. She may be the deadliest fighter in the pack.
“Daniel Shiloh Mahealani, age 17. The healing talent and NSA level hacker. Could be the overall most dangerous member of the pack.
“Vernon Boyd IV, age 18. The other future engineer, but mechanical. Perhaps the gentlest of pack members.
“Erica Anne Reyes, age 17. We have a feeling that the sense of justice with this one is going to be great.”
Agent Adams moved in front of Dr. Harding and interrupted him. “You still haven’t told me why they’re so important!”
“You are too focused on what you want to know to see what you need to see, Agent Adams. You’d be the worst type of analyst for all that you are a profiler. You try to fit the theory into the facts regardless whether it actually fits.” He moved over and picked up and another file.
“Cora Bethany Hale, age 17. The lost one returned. We fear she is the closest to her wolf nature of all the pack.
“Isaac Anthony Lahey, age 18. Another that will have a powerful sense of justice. Two wolves in close association with similar needs raised red flags.
“Finally, the twins; Ethan and Aiden Hale, age 18. Much of their past has been lost so they took the pack name. We’ve multiple reports that they continue to change their status but prefer to be betas.”
She scoffed at him. “How thorough are you if you forgot Derek Hale’s significant other.”
“I didn’t forget him, but he will be addressed soon. That was the original pack minus the younger Stilinski. Then there are the new additions that the events in the fall brought to Beacon Hills.
“The new pack members: Patrick Kyle Watt, age 42. He now works for the Sheriff’s Department. Most importantly, he’s a willingly fallen alpha. Karina Jo Phipps, age 21 and Mia Elisa Carson, age 23, are both gallivanting around with the Summer Court. Porter Aaron Kane, age 34. The one who will be the muscle of the new clan.
“Those are the wolves and the humans in that newly named Hale Clan.” Dr. Harding pointed at a another stack of files and brings up a group of images. “Lynn Yvette Dorsett, age 57 and the new Emissary for the Hales. Marin Alice Morrell, age 38 and the secondary Emissary as well as school protector. Dorsett practices Druidism while Morrell is more classic Wicca. Dr. Bronson Clint Keys, age 45 and a shaman. He is also a medical doctor. That is three powerful magic users affiliated with the clan. Father Jason Laughlin isn’t a member, but he is a resource for the clan. He, however, has seen too much. In this business too much knowledge is a dangerous thing.”
He pulled out another file. “And then there is the lynch pin of the whole thing: Stiles Stilinski, age 17 who hates his given name. A Dream walker who has become a wizard. The other half of the alpha pairing and yet lives in the magical realm. He and his wolf have created a magical fortress in that forest.
“All these disparate elements floating out there have slowly come together. Tragedy has driven much here and forged and reforged bonds. Mr. Hale’s eyes are now silver. We found only three documented cases of that happening. Three in thirty-five hundred years of werewolf lore! We’ve found no instants of a wizard and wolf mating. None. And yet in front of us we see this happening right now…”
Suddenly he stopped and peered at everything. Dr. Harding looked back and forth through several files and then quickly moved to a book on the shelf behind him. “This is not good. A wizard, sorceress, a witch, a druidess, a shaman, a healer, a paladin, a priest, and they know a Chinese medicine woman. That’s nine. A celestial coven inside a wolf clan is in the making. One headed by an extremely powerful alpha brandishing silver eyes. I don’t like coincidences.”
“I don’t understand,” Adams stated. “What is that kind of coven?”
“There are several different types of magic users, all with different approaches and power levels. And they have a strong number. There is a coven inside a resurrected wolfpack, based out of a now incredibly strong magical fortress which houses a large collection of arcane and occult books on top of a natural point of power with them being anchored by a silver-eyed wolf. This changes things a bit.”
He gathered a few more books and started frowning. “There are four born Hales in the clan. Despite his claims, Peter can still have children…”
Camille cleared her throat. “He was pretty a few times that he’s sterile. The man is the master of oversharing.”
“Yes, but in his youth at Stanford, he made arrangements, if you catch my meaning. He may not remember everything, but he could still start a new generation. For all their size, the Clan is still young at heart. It requires children to truly cement the bonds to the land. But they still search for a lost potential Hale. A fifth would make their survival as a bloodline more probable.”
Adams stood up and walked right up to the Director and frowned. “What are you going on about? And why are they so important?”
“We’ve watched and waited for millennia. We navigate the Times of Change as best we can. There are many in exile on this plane. We do what we must to survive, Agent Adams.” The Director’s eyes glowed for a second and she backed off. “There are too many rogue elements to account for now. Variables are mounting by the day. And now this clan has formed, minutes from the Change, and that bothers us.”
He gave her a long look. “It is time for you to go Agent Adams. Thank you for the report. That is all you will remember. But there is a new sheriff’s deputy you need to friend when you check in on Beacon Hills. Deputy Parrish will be more than happy to make your acquaintance.”
The Director watched her leave. Two more Archivists joined him. “Make sure Parrish is up to date. We’ve come too far to let anything interfere with our plans. Our agents in Chicago are ready to act now. Our agents in California will need to be ready as well. We must find the last Hale before Peter Hale does.”
One of the other Archivists nodded and left. The remaining one stared at Dr. Harding for a moment. “The coming war will be worse that the rebellion of the Morningstar. We are too few to fully contain events.”
“We created the Archive to control the knowledge of the humans. The Venatori shall not fail so close to achieving our goals.” Dr. Harding pulled one last file. “The White Court witch, Jennifer Blake, can still be leveraged along with Parrish. Foremost we must have the last Hale. It may be that last wedge we have on the Clan. The wizard and his wolf bother me. Wild cards so late in the game always means trouble.”
The two archivists looked over at an intricate clock. It modeled the movement of planets and stars. “Mab will soon surrender the Outer Walls. The Outer Gods will attack then. All pantheons will be weak. The last great war will start then.”
Dr. Harding pointed at the all the files and the images on the screen. “They may be nothing but a nuisance, but no one will interfere with the new order. Our plans will come to fruition. We will watch and act when necessary. And if they are important, we will use them to our advantage.”