Rather than finding a place close to Belle Island to eat our morning meal and then getting some supplies to take back to the abandoned zoo as we had originally planned, we ended up returning to Shadowtown to eat at Witch’s Brew. Greta would be there working again, and Goldie thought that it was best if all four of us talked about the government guy who had approached them last night while I was wolfing out. Apparently, he had been tracking both Greta and me for a while and we all thought that she had a right to know what was going on.

We also wanted to talk to the Fairy Godmother or Cerriwyn and get their advice about this matter, and to get Goldie out of direct sunlight for a while. Spending all day outside would be very uncomfortable for her and she would likely end up with a nasty sunburn. Eating at Witch’s Brew would also ensure that my Vampire girlfriend wouldn’t have to hunt for a meal to keep her energy up today.

As soon as we arrived at Witch’s Brew, we asked Dierdre to get Greta and her teacher/boss, Simone, from the back where our Witch roommate was getting a magic lesson while there weren’t many customers around. Goldie wanted to give Greta the broad strokes about last night’s encounter with the FBI agent, who seemed to be in the know about the Arcane since both she and I had been specifically mentioned. Simone offered to send a message to the Fairy Godmother by magic to save us a trip to their little forest retreat and hopefully, she would send someone to the pub to discuss the matter with us or summon us when it was convenient.

The four of us were all seated at a table with Goldie sleepily sipping at a bottle of blood, while I awaited my breakfast, when Greta asked, “So, this fucking FBI asshole has been tracking me and Red for a while now? Any idea what it is that he fucking wants?”

“He claimed that he just wants to be sure that we’re not dangerous to Joe Average or going to reveal the existence of the Arcane to them,” Goldie replied with a tired shrug. “He also mentioned that he has some information for us, probably specifically for Red since he wants to meet us after the full moon is past. On one hand, this guy seems to know a lot about the Arcane, so maybe he’ll know something that can help with Red’s Werewolf situation. On the other hand…”

“He could be baiting a trap for us,” I finished as Goldie trailed off uncertainly.

Goldie nodded as a frown settled upon her pretty face. “Yeah, it’s something to consider. He did say that we could choose the place and time for the meetup though, which we can use to tip things in our favor. That’s why I’d like to talk with the Fairy Godmother, to see what she thinks and what she suggests doing about this. He knows that we’re here now, but I tried not to reveal anything too important.”

“So, what do we do about tonight and tomorrow?" Berry asked as she cast a concerned look in my direction. “He knows where we’re keeping Red when she goes wolf, so do we go back to the zoo and hope he hasn’t set up a trap there or do we try to find some other place where she can’t hurt anyone?”

“I’m not sure that we can find some other place to lock me down on such short notice,” I replied darkly as I glared down at the table and tried to keep my moon-fueled anger at the situation under control. “I don’t want to hurt someone because I’m not locked up properly tonight, so I guess we’ll have to risk it.”

It was then that Dierdre brought my breakfast to the table, so the conversation died for a while as I ate, and we all considered the problem. If anyone came up with any halfway decent ideas then they didn’t voice them, so the silence seemed to drag on as I ate. I was almost finished my meal entirely when Chief Rissara, otherwise known as the Fairy Godmother, arrived with Cerriwyn and a large contingent of other Fairies from the BriarRose Family.

They arrived a lot faster than I thought. In fact, I had been expecting for us to be summoned to the Fairy Godmother rather than her coming to us, with a retinue no less. I was still trying to finish a mouthful of steak as the chieftain approached our table to inquire, “I trust that one of the abandoned zoos was satisfactory last night?”

“Yeah, except for the unexpected visitor, everything went to plan,” Goldie responded. “Thank you for the suggestion, Chief Rissara. It should work well enough until we figure something more permanent, unless, of course, that government spook decides to set a trap for us tonight.”

“Yes,” the head of the Fairy clan agreed grimly. “I would like to know more about this man, especially if he has been prowling about outside of our territory and stalking those under my protection.”

Goldie shoved the business card that she had gotten from the man in question across the table as the group of Fairies alighted on one of the corners. “I’m not sure if I trust him, but he didn’t just try to kill us last night and then he left us in peace after our conversation. If he was being honest then his concerns are valid, and he might have kept the police from coming after Red, but I’m not going to trust him just because he knows about the Arcane and flashed a badge at us, metaphorically speaking.”

“Agent Hunter, what an appropriate name,” Chief Rissara hummed thoughtfully as she stood over the business card that was nearly as big as she was and examined it. “Just a moment, allow me to try…”

The Fairy Godmother knelt to place both hands on the card before chanting something for several minutes that was too quiet for even my newly sensitive ears to hear with her small voice. “She’s using a scrying spell,” Cerriwyn quickly explained for the sake of those of us who were still new around magic.

Finally, after a long and awkward silence, the card began to glow for just a few seconds before Chief Rissara rose to her feet once more. “Very clever, he has protected himself against scrying, so he can’t be tracked. He’s using a Huntsman artifact for that though, and I recognize the ‘scent’ of it. I dealt with one of its past bearers after all. He must be one of Abraham’s descendants. Abraham was a decent sort, he never crossed us and left most Arcane alone unless they were an unchecked danger, like that Vampire in Romania.”

“So, you can’t find out anything from that card then?” Berry asked, looking disappointed.

“Oh, that is not the case at all,” Chief Rissara countered cheerfully. “This does verify his story to some degree since those artifacts will only work for someone of the proper bloodline, and that means we’re dealing with a Van Helsing. I had heard that some of them moved to North America and changed their name, but I was not sure whether to believe it. If he has taken Abraham’s ways to heart, as his behavior last night would indicate, then he should be safe to meet with. Trust me, there are far worse Huntsmen that we could be dealing with.

“So, we’re probably still safe locking me up in the zoo tonight?” I asked, hoping for clarification.

The Fairy looked contemplative for a moment before agreeing, “Yes indeed, young Red. Though to err on the side of caution, I believe that I will send Cerriwyn and three others of my kind along with you to serve as lookouts and keep you hidden from sight with illusions.”

I let out a long sigh of relief as some of the tension that had been building up left me and my shoulders became less tense. “What about the meeting that he requested?” Goldie pressed. My girlfriend still seemed somewhat suspicious, but I couldn’t really blame her. If the Fairy Godmother was willing to send four Fairies along with us the next two nights to keep a lookout and keep us hidden, it probably meant that she wasn’t sure about this Agent Hunter yet either.

“You will call him on the morning after the third night of the full moon to arrange a meeting that night,” Chief Rissara instructed carefully. “You will be at your strongest at night, Goldie, so he should not find anything unusual about you choosing such a time. Now, as for the place…”

Belle Isle
Detroit, Michigan
Thursday, November 10th, 2022 – 8:37 a.m.

That second night was much like the previous one if you didn’t count us having Fairies accompany us or the lack of any tense meetings with government agents. Goldie and Berry accompanied me to the zoo and then, when the moon rose, my world erupted in pain until I was shoved in the mental back seat by the Wolf. Then I spent the night fighting vainly for control as my other, more furry self, attempted to break free from the cage until she wore herself out.

The next morning, I again woke up tired and sore on the cage’s filthy floor and we woke Goldie so we could return to Shadowtown for breakfast, a hot shower, and a change of clean clothes. To hear Berry tell it, their night was pretty boring while Wolf-me was trying to break free, and that was a huge relief. The lack of any traps that night, or further visits from Agent Hunter meant that the government Huntsman was keeping to his word.

The third night of the full moon was basically a repeat of the second. I still woke up feeling tired, cold, and sore this morning, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the anger and feral instincts that had been simmering inside me since a few days before the full moon seemed to have subsided enough that I didn’t think I was going to angrily snap at someone again. I still felt bad for snapping at Berry over a simple “How are you feeling this morning?" the morning before.

I decided as I got dressed that I would have to do something nice for Slime-girl to make it up to her. I did apologize right after it happened, but I still felt bad about it. That guilt resurfaced as I stood up and stretched and Berry once again immediately noticed and brought my clothes into the cage while asking, “Feeling any better today, Red?”

“Yeah, much better,” I agreed with a smile. “It doesn’t feel like I’m gonna explode with anger this morning at least. I’m really sorry about yesterday, Berry, you didn’t deserve that.”

“Oh, I’m sure I can think of some way for you to make me forget all about it,” the pink Slime-girl offered with a grin. Then, the moment that I had taken the clothes that she was offering in hand, she sort of oozed over and around me, holding me in her warm near-liquid embrace as I felt part of the blob that had ensconced everything but my head and outstretched arms massaging my bare breasts… and other places. “Yeah, now that’s an apology,” her voice teased from behind my right ear.

“Berry!” I squealed in protest, even as I could feel my nipples harden and a warmth build up in my groin from whatever she was doing to me. Thankfully, she let go as soon as I protested and didn’t take it too far, though she was giggling playfully as she did. As flustered and turned on as I now was, it was nice seeing Berry act more like her normal self, as frustrating as she could be sometimes. It was hard to admit, but I kind of liked the attention from her, and I felt bad when she was walking on eggshells around me.

“Hey, I’m sleeping here,” Goldie protested from the shelter of a nearby cage. She did get up though since she was already awake and stepped out of the cage to glare at Berry as I hurriedly changed into my clothes. “What did we talk about last night? Geeze, it’s like you weren’t even listening.”

I somewhat recalled the two of them talking about stuff the past few nights, but with the Wolf in charge, it was like it was all filtered through a static of rage so I couldn’t really remember any details. At least they were getting along better now, and Goldie didn’t seem to be at Berry’s throat as much. Whatever it was Goldie was talking about though, Berry at least had the good grace to look embarrassed. “You mean about maybe sharin…”

“No! The other thing!” Goldie half shouted to cut her off.

“Right... that consent thing you were telling me about,” the Slime-girl said as she looked at the ground. “Sorry… both of you. I’ll… try not to be so impulsive.”

I had finished throwing my clothes on and looked at the pair in confusion. They were actually getting along, well, for the two of them anyway. And what was Berry about to say before Goldie suddenly cut her off? I gave the pair a suspicious glance and asked, “Okay, what’s up with the two of you?”

“I’ll tell you later, sexy,” Goldie offered before giving me a good morning kiss. “Tonight, when I’m not standing in the sunshine, we don’t have a meeting with a Huntsman to worry about, and when we can relax and have a nice long talk.”

I decided to let it go for the moment and nodded my agreement. “Sure, Goldie. Let’s wrangle some Fairies so we can get back home. I want a nice warm meal, a hot shower, and a very long nap before we have to meet with this ‘Agent Hunter’ tonight.

“Yeah, I can get behind all of that,” the Vampire agreed. “You look as tired as I feel. Let’s gather those Fairies and get home. I’ll call the spook to arrange the time and place while we’re on our way back to Shadowtown.”