Strange Aeons [Book 1]

7. Losertown

If the Order's offices were just like any other office, the Order's cafeteria was just like any other cafeteria. Loud, kind of smelly and with bad food handed out with bad grace by a corpulent bearded man named Larry. 

The room wasn't very full, it was a lazy Tuesday evening. Banshee could feel some eyes on her, as she passed by some tables towards one empty one, but she wasn't that worried. She was just there to catch Larry as soon as he finished his shift. And to eat for free. Even if very badly.

She glanced towards the end of the room, and blinked, baffled. On the extreme end of a long table, where two other Enforcers were chatting and laughing, Garaham was sitting in front of an empty tray, his eyes focused on some kind of multi-sheeted document. His face was strangely relaxed as if finding its spot of personal silence in the room had somehow made his day better. Or, maybe, the thick gravy left in his plate was the indiscreet witness to one of his rare acts of defiance towards Francesca's soy diet, and his peace was the satisfactory sensation of red meat proteins flowing in his veins.

As if he had somehow sensed someone was watching him, he raised his eyes from the document and glanced around, until he noticed her. He frowned, confused.

She approached the man. He subtly covered his plate with a paper napkin.

«Don't worry, I won't talk.» she smiled, stopping beside him.

«Banshee, what in the world are you doing here?» he asked, between his teeth. «You should be working on... that particular assignment.»

«Oh, I am! Plus, I'm trying to avoid a showdown with the Lions.» she whispered.

«Showdown?»

«Aye, ye didn't know? Chico had... an encounter with yer friend's underlings. Don't worry, he's alive and well.»

«That's quite... surprising.» many things he would believe. That any of his Coven could survive unscathed a close-quarters encounter with such superior mages wasn't one of them. «Did he ran away with dignity at least?»

«Ran away? Chico didn't run away! Apparently Avalanche didn't feel like hitting Chico, and he got away with some bruises..»

«So, they probably understood by now that single combat s aren't going to cut it.» Garaham turned thoughtful. «They might try to come at you, scare you into running where we keep the music box.»

«I think they'd rather try to scry the hell out of us, waiting for any of us to go where they think we keep it.» she said. «They can do that. They can access good scryers, as a high-rank Coven.»

«So maybe, if you scatter, they'd be more confused, and maybe just choose one of you to follow. And if they should try and attack again...»

«... we'll just teleport to the chosen one and appear right at their backs, throwing them off-game, maybe enough to be left alone, fer tonite at least.» she nodded, catching his drift.

«Not the most elegant and honorable solution, but one that would ensure your survival for some more hours.»

«Aw sweet, yer worried fer us.» she mocked him, with a small laugh. He scowled at her, badly.

«I just don't want the kind of paperwork connected to a Coven member's death to land on my table, Banshee.» he snarled, taking up his document again. «Now shoo, some of us have work to do aside from babysitting dumb overgrown teenagers.»

She sighed and walked on.

Garaham was three pages into his document when something in the conversation going on at his table caught attention.