I looked Jax over and was mildly surprised to find that he had taken the trouble to dress up slightly compared to his regular attire of worn oversized jeans and hoodies. Instead, he was standing on the other side of the bars dressed in a rather expensive-looking suit.

"Nice monkey suit." I commented with a snort of amusement.

Jax grinned and glanced down at the outfit before saying "You like? I know it's a tad fancier than usual, but it's not every day I have to come visit my dear wayward son in jail."

"I'm not your son Jax." I said with a slight edge in my voice.

He rolled his eyes and replied, "And yet I'm the one who took you in and raised you when you had nowhere else to go. I was responsible for your ungrateful ass almost as long as your father was. And don't forget that I was the one you called when you were going to be arrested."

"I called you because as shifty and aggravating as you can be, I know that you can accomplish practically anything." It never hurt to try to play to his ego.

"True enough. But the real question is, why should I help you? I think I've been more than helpful enough so far. And there are some real big players involved in all this. And if you wanted to avoid the murder charges, you could have simply hidden from the police. I know I taught you well enough that something like that would be child's play for you. In fact, the only way they could have caught and taken you in as easily as they did is if you..." He trailed off as he had a realization, "James?"

"Yes?"

"Did you tip off the police to where you were going to be?"

"Yes." I replied unable to conceal the grin spreading across my face.

"Why did you let the police arrest you?" He finally asked

My smugness was on full display as I said "Because, I knew that if they arrested me, then whoever's trying to frame me wouldn't miss the opportunity to take a shot. Right now, there should be a nice gentleman currently being detained for attempted murder. You're going to get the charges against me dropped. Then you're going to tell me who's actually behind the killings."

Jax just laughed and asked, "Why would I do that?"

"Because you owe me. And because we both know that you're the one who helped them to frame me to begin with."

His smile vanished to be replaced by a neutral expression and a chilly tone, "Oh? Last I checked I didn't owe you a thing. And what makes you think I had anything to do with this business?"

"Simple. Because it's business. You're quite a few things Jax, but paramount among them is a businessman. You trade in favors and everything you do, you do to further whatever personal agenda you have. And you don't care one bit for who you screw over in the process. I don't know why you would help whoever is behind all this. And I don't care either. I doubt they're stupid enough to trust you with anything of significance. I'm guessing that you made an agreement with someone to influence witnesses and the police so that I would be named prime suspect. Oh, and you do owe me. Or more accurately, you owe my father. When you first took me in, you said that you were doing it to repay a debt to my father. But after that, you would repeatedly tell me that I owed you for taking me in. I repaid you for raising me, and if that's the case then you still owe my father."

His expression was completely still in a way I had never seen before. It was an unnatural and impossible stillness. And it was the stillness more than anything else I had ever seen that cemented my belief that Jax had never been human to begin with.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity he spoke and said, "Fine, I'll do this for you. I disagree about the debt, but the very fact that you would try to trick me into solving a problem for you for free is so ballsy that I'm willing to let it slide."

"What can I say? I learned from the best." I replied

He snorted in amusement and said, "You must not have learned enough if you think trying to flatter me would do you any favors." Despite his words, I knew Jax well enough to know that he was secretly pleased by my words. "Regardless, I'll have you out of here within the hour, and I'll even send someone to give you a little help. You know, even the playing field. But after that, you're on your own kid. After all, It would hardly be right for me to pick favorites among my children."

"Wait, what about your children?" I asked my feeling of triumph quickly giving way to confusion. Once again Jax had managed to effortlessly trip me up with only a few words. But despite my repeated requests for him to clarify his words, he didn't reply but instead simply turned and walked away leaving me with more questions than ever.

True to his words, Jax managed to get the police to release me within the hour. The official explanation was that a series of tests had come back which suggested that I was not likely to be the killer. It was a bullshit explanation, but I wasn't about to complain. Although I almost considered asking to be rearrested when I exited the precinct building and saw who Jax had sent to help me.

She was a good head taller than me, and she was all long legs and pronounced curves. She was dressed in tight-fitting skinny jeans, black knee-high boots, and a crimson crop top shirt which exposed her pale skin. Her raven black hair fell past her shoulders and seemed to shine in the pale light of the moon. She wore two plain steel hoop earrings in each ear lobe and I could flash another band of steel on one wrist. Despite wearing minimal makeup her beauty was striking. It was the kind that one rarely sees in movies or magazines. A beauty that was made all the more lovely because of its imperfection. As such there was no single part of her that one could point out and claim to have been what made her so attractive. Rather it was only when viewed as a whole that her beauty became apparent. Even in a casual setting like this, her very existence seemed to ooze sensuality. And her striking green eyes shone with intelligence. I saw her crimson lips quirk up into a slight smile as she saw me react to her presence, and her gaze followed my every step like a tiger preparing to pounce upon its prey. Given the nature of what she was, the tiger analogy wasn't far off.

"Jimmy, how are you? It's been far too long. Why do you never call?" She purred in a lovely voice tinged with a Serbian accent.

"Ana. I thought Jax said he was going to send a helper. Not a backstabbing bitch." I couldn't hide the heat in my words

She let out a throaty chuckle and replied "Don't tell me you're still upset about that whole mess with Piere?"

"You mean where you ensnared both his son and daughter at the same time then ran off with two point three million euros? Yeah, I'm still a little mad. He tried to feed me to his pigs. Fucking Pigs!"

Ana gave me a teasing pout and said, "Awe, poor baby. It seems like you got out alright."

"Bite me." I muttered as I walked around towards the driver's seat.

She flashed a smile that showed off her blindingly white teeth and replied playfully, "Oh I wish. I haven't eaten yet today."

I realized that I had made a poor choice of words when talking with a vampire. Truth is Ana was one of the oldest beings I knew. She refused to tell anyone her exact age, but I suspected she was at least a thousand years old. The last time I had seen her was two years after I had left Eden City. In addition to being an ancient vampire and sometimes friend, Ana was also the first woman I ever slept with. A fact that brought me no small amount of discomfort due to the concerningingly large age difference. In my defense, Jax's lessons and the constant "errands" as he always called them left me with little time to meet girls. Ana and I had first met during one such errand. Jax sent me to assist Ana after she had gotten herself into some trouble in the border city of Blackwood. I was a dumb and horny nineteen-year-old. Jax was furious when he found out what had happened. To this day I'm not sure if he was angrier at me or Ana.

She sat down in the passenger seat and we pulled out and onto the road towards Grey Manor. I glanced over and said "So why are you actually here? I thought you said you were never letting Jax talk you into doing something dumb again."

She shrugged one elegant shoulder and replied, "Is it really so outrageous that I might want to help you out of the goodness of my own heart? That I might care about you and want to see you do well?"

I didn't answer but the skeptical look on my face spoke volumes. I had no doubts that Ana liked me. Hell, I was even willing to accept that she might care about me in her own strange way. But there was no way that she would have agreed to help me on Jax's behalf without getting something in return.

She let out an exaggerated sigh before saying "Ok fine. I may have borrowed something from Jax without asking. And he may have found out and given me the choice between doing him a favor or sunbathing."

I quirked an eyebrow in surprise and asked, "He actually said sunbathing?" she nodded in reply and I laughed at the absurdity of the ultimatum before saying, "Well that's what you get for stealing from Jax. And for the record. I am glad to see you."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. You're a lot more resistant to dying than I am. And it's looking like things are going to get real dangerous here soon. I could use a sturdy meat shield."

She gave me a halfhearted glare before getting down to business, "So Jax said you needed help but didn't bother saying what exactly you needed help with."

"Someone's using lost magic to kill off practitioners in the city. I think they've actually been doing it for years but are ramping up now. I don't know why the killings are happening, but I know that it has something to do with runecraft and whoever's behind it has to be a heavyweight practitioner. On top of all that, the killer's currently trying to frame me for the murders. Plus the Midnight Tower wants me dead now as retribution for the killings. Jax said he was going to give me information about who's behind it. I don't suppose he told you anything?"

" Right. I almost forgot. He did give me a message for you. It was just the word Renegade. Does that mean anything to you?"

I swore and said "Yeah. I think I know what he meant. I want to go home first. I've been away too long and I have some guests I want to make sure are comfortable. Plus I have a few things I need to pick up before we can get to work. I figure the evil mastermind and nefarious plots will just have to wait until tomorrow. It's not like there's anything we can do right this second. Oh, but I do have a question for you. You ever threatened a mayor before?"

She smiled at my question and said, "No. No, I have not. You always know how to show me a good time don't you?"

We pulled past the front gate and up to Grey Manor and Ana let out a long whistle and made some comment about rich people and compensating. I didn't bother to correct her about my financial situation or point out that she had claimed on more than one occasion to be actual European royalty. Instead, I went inside the manor and called out for Johann.

The wooden construct quickly appeared and said in his usual cultured tone, "Master Grey, I am pleased by your return. I trust your journey was a successful one?"

"Yes, things went about as well as I could hope. Everything ok here at the manor?"

"The estate has seen an increase in attempted visitors but we have thus far been successful in keeping them out. Your guests are resting comfortably in their quarters. If you will give me a moment I shall have Sarah begin preparing a meal for everyone."

"That sounds great. After dinner, I need you to come with me to the barn. I have a few items I want to take out."

"Of course Master Grey." The wooden butler replied before turning and striding off with purpose.

I could feel Ana staring at me and I glanced over and asked "What?"

"What the hell was that?"

"My butler." I replied with a slight smirk

"Your butler was made of wood."

"Yeah, he's a golem. My father was the one who made him." I quickly added, "But I made the other two."

"Golems can't normally carry on conversations or think."

I just shrugged and tried to play it off saying, "I know some interesting spells."

She shook her head slightly and said "I'll say. What other things are you keeping secret?"

I immediately thought of Mephistopheles but decided that it was probably for the best I didn't go talking about him. Not even Damian knew that Mephy existed. Instead I said, "Nothing important."

It was her turn to give me a skeptical look but I just ignored it and led her to the dining room. True to form, Johann had somehow already managed to set the table and the sounds of cooking could be heard coming from the manor's kitchen.

Dinner turned out to be a sizeable prime rib along with garlic-roasted potatoes and a large bowl of salad. As we ate I talked with Bartholomew.

"We need to find a good location first before I can try opening a gate to Avalon. And even then, Opening a gate takes a lot of magic to get done." I said between bites.

"How much magic will you require to complete the gate?"

"The problem is that even the best mages can only channel so much magic at once before it literally destroys their body. So while there are ways to draw in a large amount of magic from my surroundings, I would have to be spending the excess magic power as fast as I'm drawing it in. That's not easy to do."

"Well how did you open the gate to Glastonbury Tor?" Bartholomew asked a look of confusion clear on his face.

"That was different. For one thing, I only had to open the gate for a few minutes. And for another, we only managed to open it because I used a rune to briefly intercept a preexisting magical process and siphon the magic being drawn to transfer it into the gate. So unless you happen to have a magical battery lying around we're back to square one."

"Ok. Well what about the gates already in the city?" He said after a moment of thought

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the gate will draw magic from its surroundings to sustain itself once active so It's only the act of initially powering the gate that's the issue right?"

"Yeah. Essentially."

"Then why not simply draw power from the already powered gates? You just said you know of a rune that can interrupt the process to send the magic elsewhere. So if we place that rune on the gate, then wouldn't we be able to steal the magic being drawn and redirect it towards the one we are trying to open? We don't need it to be as large as the ones already here, so I highly doubt it would have any significant effect on the gates."

I just stared at him for a minute while I inwardly kicked myself for not having thought of using the preexisting gates until Bartholomew suggested it. Finally I realized that everyone else at the table was similarly just staring at me and waiting to see what I'd say.

"That could work! The gate would provide more than enough magic power to jumpstart a door to Avalon."

"Door?" Jennifer piped up interested

I shrugged and replied, "I mean the gates are all massive structures of stone. Even the one we went through from Earth was only masked by illusion magic rather than being actually within a carwash. But what we're talking about doing is on a much smaller scale than any of the gates. I feel like it makes more sense to call it a door."

Reginald let out a booming laugh and said, "Yes! I like it! Not a gate but a door!"

I couldn't help but crack a smile at his infectious laugh. But I noticed Ana lingering at the end of the table trying to look casual as she listened in on the conversation. I didn't love her being there. I knew Ana wasn't likely to do anything to betray me. At least not while she was assisting me as a favor to Jax. If she tried anything, it would be the same as insulting Jax's honor. And people who did that didn't normally live that long. She saw me looking at her and flashed me another dazzling smile. I turned away and tried my best to ignore how the light being cast by the fireplace gave her usual beauty an almost otherworldly quality.

After we had all finished eating I excused myself and sought out Johann and Tyr. Both golems were already waiting at the back door of the manor. I simply nodded in acknowledgement to both of them and we began the walk towards the sole structure behind the manor house. The barn was large and looked to be straight out of the late eighteenth century. Its faded wooden exterior served to mask the several inches of reinforced steel that lined the inside of the building. The door to the barn likewise hid a solid metal interior and was held closed by a combination of magical wards and a high-tech magnetic lock.

Upon approaching the door I allowed Johann past and watched as he reached into the pocket of his tailcoat and withdrew a simple silver pocket watch. He held the watch against a section of the door and although nothing appeared to have happened, I knew that he had just deactivated the wards around the barn. Most people would probably question why I didn't carry the key to the wards myself, and the answer was simple enough. Johann never left the estate grounds and spent most of his time inside the manor. As such he and by extension the watch which served as the key to the barn's magical security, was extremely safe. Furthermore, Johann wasn't actually alive in the traditional sense, which meant that he could not be killed in the same way as a person. The unkillable sentient construct seemed like the best choice for keeping something so important. And it ensured that should someone try to take my eye to use on the retinal scanner, they would still be unable to access the barn without somehow managing to get the better of Johann.

Next, it was my turn to unlock the mundane security protecting the barn. I stepped in front of the scanner and waited as it proceeded to match my retina to the one on file. A moment later I heard the heavy thunk of the lock being disengaged. I gave the door an experimental push and it swung inward with some effort. I entered the barn followed closely by Johann, while Tyr took up position directly in front of the door. I waved my hand and used a minor bit of magic to activate the lights in the building. They quickly illuminated the interior of the barn and I felt myself once again in slight awe of the barn's contents. No matter how often I saw the items held within, they still managed to inspire and amaze me. To either side were several large drawers containing an assortment of items gathered over the years by myself and before that my father. Before I was born he had spent much of his time traveling under the excuse of attempting to uncover new information about runecraft. And while much of his travels were indeed about finding hints of the lost magic, he also took advantage of the opportunity to collect numerous artifacts and items of magical power or significance. Towards the back of the barn were the most important finds. I made my way to a pair of pedestals upon which sat two swords. Both swords had been particularly prized finds of my father's and I took a moment to admire them both. The first sword looked to be a traditional single-handed medieval sword. The blade was just over two and a half feet long, and despite not having been used in centuries its metal gleamed and its edge looked just as sharp as ever. The second was an iron greatsword and looked even more unimpressive than its neighbor. While the blades were certainly nice to look at, no one would ever guess that they were swords straight out of legend. The single-handed weapon was in fact the mythical Durendal, while the larger sword was the Irish blade Caladbolg. Both swords were magic in nature. Durendal was indestructible and capable of cutting through anything it was used on. This made it an excellent weapon when used against a single or handful of enemies. However, Caladbolg's enchantment was far more useful when facing a large number of foes. Legend had it that Caladbolg could slice the tops from hills and was as big as a rainbow when used to strike. In practice what the enchantment on the sword did was allow one to kill all their enemies in a single strike. A swing of Caladbolg would cut the target as if it was the same size as perceived. If the wielder faced an army and swung the blade then the entire army would be cut by it. However, the downside to Caladbolg is that aside from the size of the cut it would act the same as a normal sword and as such could be stopped by armor or shields. I briefly considered grabbing both swords but after a moment of deliberation, I reached only for Durendal. Located inside the pedestal was a simple leather sheath which I slid the sword into. I then made my way throughout the barn to see if I couldn't find any tools or items that could prove useful to my plans.

After another twenty minutes of searching, I exited the barn along with Johann and reactivated the security on the building. Then we returned to the manor to find that by that time both Cassidy and Damian had arrived.

"How's the bar?" I asked my shifter friend upon sitting down with everyone in the sitting room.

"It's fine. Still in one piece. You're out earlier than expected."

"Yeah, sticking around lockup was never part of the plan, but I did get some interesting leads on our next move."

"Oh?" he replied with a raised eyebrow

"Yup. Starting tomorrow we're going to be going on the offensive. I don't know what all is going to happen from now on, but I do know it's going to be dangerous. Anyone involved is going to become a direct enemy of the Midnight Tower. I haven't figured out how they're involved yet, but I know they are. I won't force anyone to help me, so if you're not willing to go to war then feel free to walk away right now." I glanced around at the assembled individuals and waited for a reaction.

Damian gave me his reaction when he stood up and approached me before delivering a hard right hook to my face. As I clutched at where he'd hit me he said "That's for trying to get rid of me. I'm with you no matter what. You know that."

"Count me in. No way I'm missing something this fun. Besides, the Midnight Tower would hate me anyway." Piped up Cassidy from the couch she was perched on.

I received similar words of confirmation from the three descendants of the Twilight Tower, with Jennifer saying, "You're our best hope of seeing the Twilight Tower revived. And you're still technically the Tower Master, of course we'll do whatever we can to assist you."

I glanced over at Ana, who was the only one yet to answer. She just waved a hand through the air and said, "I'm stuck helping you whether I like it or not."

I was grateful for the support of all of them and had to do my best to keep from shedding a tear of gratitude. Instead, I looked at them each in turn before saying, "Alright then. The first thing on the agenda is to go meet the mayor and then threaten him...again. Oh, and open a door to Avalon."

I heard cries of surprise from everyone and a curse from Cassidy. This was going to be interesting.