Early AM, Saturday, January 29, 2022 - Miami, Florida, United States

Ella sat in the back of the SUV, covered in blood and scratches and feeling exhausted. But she kept her eyes on the passenger right in front of her, the woman they had taken from the house.

Charlie called back, “Are we going to a hospital? Tauthe - you are still bleeding, and Adra, your shoulder does not look great.”

“No.” rasped Etana. “Go five blocks and turn right, there will be a place we can get care.” He was looking at his phone.

They were grim and silent. The woman in front of her impassive and not speaking despite her hand mostly missing from where Ella had shot her.

Charlie turned right and then followed Etanas directions until they parked the vehicle behind a veterinarian clinic.

They broke in and Etana started laying out medical supplies. “I did lots of rotations at the clinic. They’ll be okay.”

Leaving Adra and Tauthe to Etana. Davcina and Ella conferred.

“What did they want?”

“Nothing. They grabbed me right as I went to go close out my bet and tossed me into that car. Then we got here and they tied me to a chair.”

“But her?” And Davcina nodded her head in the direction of the woman who was now zip tied five different ways to an office chair, “she was very upset when it turned out I wasn’t you.” And Davcina looked right at Ella.

“So they were after me?”

“Yes. And I think you know why. The first human ever to join us? One of the few to know our secret? And then she knows it too?”

“Okay, okay. I sort of know why. But I don’t know if I can tell you. Arcsa and the High Priestess told me not to. But… you know what? Fuck it. But don’t freak out.”

“Ummm. Okay?”

“Really don’t say anything.”

Ella looked at Davcina and let her eyes glow and the crown manifest.

Davcina’s eyes widened and she said, “Holy shit!” Then repeated it much quieter, “holy shit. Is that what I think it is?”

Ella just nodded and let it fade. “That is not all of it. But all I can tell you. "

They both looked at the woman, facing away from them strapped to an office chair. Black blood dripping from her hand still.

“Go grab some scary looking tools from the supplies. Let’s work on getting her to talk.”

Davcina looked at her, “I never learned how to interrogate anyone. I’ll get whatever I can.” And she ran back to where the others are.

Ella walked around to be in view of the woman who looked at her, “Ella, damn. Those idiots. You don’t look that similar.”

Her voice was impassive. Ella stayed silent and scanned the woman, letting her eyes glow a little bit.

She spotted it, and reached to the woman and unhooked her left earring.

The woman underwent a transformation.

“An elf?” Ella said wonderingly.

“Phaw” the woman spit. Her canted eyes were dark black with grey sclera, her skin a pasty white.

“A drow,” said Davcina with awe who had returned. “I saw pictures of them in one of our books.”

The drow woman looked at Davcina. “You aren’t even Blooded. This is embarrassing.”

“Your people were very sloppy.”

The woman hung her head in shame.

“Drow,” Ella jumped in with, “You took her thinking she was me? Why? For the bounty?”

The woman kept her mouth shut.

Adra came by, his shoulder bandaged and his shirt off. “The drow are the left hand of the Emperor when we were the right. The spies, the assassins, the poison in the cup and the dagger in the night.” He recited it from memory.

“So this is Utu-on-Earths doing.” And he spat. “May Blessed Innana return and take us to paradise through the sea of blood of our enemies.”

Davcina murmured reverently, “May we serve the Blessed Innana.”

“You, scorpion, do you not serve God? Release me!” The drow leapt upon that.

“Idiot. Prophecy has happened. We served him until Kur, the undying hell, and now we are free of him. Blessed Innana is all!”

“That prophecy is a fake. A fabrication to keep you under control.”

Man’s Adra laughed, “Of course it is fake. We all know it. It does not matter. It happened. It is now the truest thing we know. Our former master saw to that.”

Ella felt more and more nervous at this religious talk. She hadn’t gotten a chance to sound Davcina out further and felt this was going to be out of control.

The drow spoke up again, “Then maybe you should be killing his heir.” And looked right at Ella.

Adra whipped around to look at her. “You?”

No way but through.

Ella nodded. “I just told Davcina.”

“We won’t serve Utu, and we won’t be serving you.” hissed Adra. He looked like he wished he had brought his gun. And then he started to transform, his legs building in the pants.

“Stop!” yelled Davcina.

And he did. He would not have stopped for Ella, and she knew it.

Ella held up her hands placatingly, “I’ll tell you what I can. Get everyone here and let’s have it out.” And then in what was either a supremely stupid decision, she held her handgun out, grip facing Adra.

His eyes narrowed. And he reached out and took the gun.

“Be careful, it is loaded.”

“But first, what do we do with her?” Ella turned to the drow.

A crack sounded out, and the woman slumped forward, black blood dripping from a new wound.

Ella turned around to see Adra pointing the gun where he had just shot.

“They might have been sloppy, but drow are not interrogable. She would have kept throwing barbs out to find points of mistrust.” And by points of mistrust, Adra meant Ella. His voice was like a rasp, like Etana.

The others came rushing in. Even Charlie who had been in the front waiting room keeping an eye out.

Tauthe limped in, but on her feet.

“What’s going on?” She demanded crossly. “I was just falling asleep. And I’ve been shot.”

“I have something to tell all of you.” Ella said.

They all looked at her with different expressions. Suspicious to trusting.

“Let me make this clear, Bahu, Arcsa, and the High Priestess know about this. And they told me to keep it quiet.”

Etana started, “Then you should keep it quiet.”

“No Etty,” said Davcina.

“We all need to know,” echoed Adra hollowly.

“So I will tell you some. But a warning, You will not walk out of here with fewer questions than you have now. You will just trade one set for another. I cannot tell you more.” Ella eyed Charlie who already knew everything and waited for an imperceptible nod.

“So Charlie and I were coming home from the club one night…” and Ella recounted the events that had led her to this point. The encounter with Ekerri, where the Aqramuabelu hissed, to the change in her eyes and appearance of the crown.

“Can we… can we see it?” Asked Tauthe diffidently, which was very out of character.

“Sure.” And Ella took a moment and flared her eyes and crown.

They all stood silent then. Ella waiting, feeling the scales tilt back and forth. She saw Adra reach for his gun and give up several times.

“And Bahu knows? She would not stand to see Utu’s heir alive. She is the most devoted to Innana.”

“She knows. She found me. And tried to kill me.” And Ella found herself rubbing the hand where Bahu’s heel had gone through not so very long ago in an icey alley.

“We will not serve the heir of Ekerri.”

“I would not expect you to.”

“And why did they bring you to us? Why have you join our squad?”

“Their reasons are theirs. I agreed, well I agreed because of this,” and Ella motioned to the dead body of the drow leaking blood slowly on the ground.

“This is not the first time someone has tried to get to me. And it may not be the last. And I…” Ella began to choke up a bit, “I don’t want you guys to not trust me because I withheld this from you.”

She turned away and walked to another chair, far away from the drow, and sat down on a small vinyl couch, letting shimmering crystal tears fall down her face.

Charlie came and sat next to her and hugged her.

The others had retreated to the procedure room to discuss.

Charlie had her gun out, and told Ella about she had heard shit on the radio and couldn’t leave Ella hanging. She had pulled up in front of the house, seen Tauthe behind a small retaining wall bleeding and had just started shooting.

She hadn’t actually shot anyone but it gave Tauthe the opportunity to retreat to the car, and Tauthe had killed the other shooter.

The others came in and Adra said, “we cannot know what Innana wills, but we know that the moment Davcina was taken, you,” and then he nodded to Charlie, “and your friend… You both dove in to help us without question.”

“So you all good?” Charlie asked for Ella. Because she knew Ella wouldn’t press for a definite answer.

“We are good.”

Ella stood back up and wiped off her face. She was so tired. “Thank you everyone. And I am glad you are back safely Davvy!”

“Davvy?” murmured Davcina.

“I thought I would try it out.” Ella responded.

Ella had never thought she could be in a room with a bleeding corpse and forget it was there, but she had never been this tired before.

“I wish I had known why they tried this.” Ella said, when she saw the drow there.

“It was the Emperor. He ordered it.” Adra said. “The drow are loyal as we are, we were made the same way after all. But they have different prophecies and theology. Heretical ones to us, we were only united in serving the emperor. It is unlikely they were released from service by fulfillment of a false prophecy as we were.”

“Ekerri. But why?” Ella said. She almost could figure it out but she was so, so tired.

Adra continued, “It makes sense if you think of it this way. He made you his heir and painted a big target on you. To draw out his enemies.”

“A fucking stalking horse?” Ella said cursing. That was the missing piece. And it explained Kothin and Donna.

“He sent me out here to get slaughtered. And then… I made an alliance with you. That was one step too far.” Ella felt it all fall into place. She wasn’t his heir, she was a paper target hung up there to take shots at.

A paper target that was developing teeth.