American Airlines flight 1733 thumped ungraciously down onto the tarmac of the grandly named Portland International Jetport. It was a new building, as American infrastructure went, brand new, but its presence on a drizzly fall day was not impressive. Three or four long runways, with taxi ways connecting them like capillaries to veins, carrying the little blood cells too and fro in the vast body of American society. The jolt of the earth thrusting up through the landing strut jolted Ellie awake and spilled the forgettable paperback romance from her fingers to the floor in a flutter of pages. Ellie stared disapprovingly down at the book she had fallen asleep reading, she weighed the cost of finding her place again against the probable loss of not knowing how the improbably shirtless Lord So-and-So and Suburban-housewife-stand-in ended up riding off into the sunset together. Deciding the information was unlikely to enrich her life, she left the paperback where it lay.

It was mid afternoon and the last of the early flights were touching down, in preparation for a second surge later in the evening. The concourse was thronged as the group descended the stairs and headed for baggage claim. Due to a combination of careful preparation and a few concealing enchantments, it hadn’t been an issue to bring weapons and equipment, regardless of how questionable it might be for a TSA inspector. Ellie pulled her own travel case, containing her handgun and other, more esoteric, tools from the slowly rotating carousel.

“I should have come to see her, she would have been here to meet me,” Madeline Holt said, a stricken expression contorting her face. The woman was dressed in comfortable traveling clothes, though her heavy jacket seemed excessive for the mild chill. Ellie felt a slight twing of… something as the woman spoke and cast an eye towards Leon. He didn’t appear to be doing anything active, but then it was hard to tell with his strange breed of totemic magic. Ellie didn’t trust other schools of the Art, intellectually she knew that didn’t make sense but no one who wielded arcane power wanted to believe that their were other avenues of understanding that were closed to them.

“You couldn’t have known what she was getting into,” Ellie said, reasonably, diplomatically, trying to calm her client down. The very last thing they needed was a hysterical and bereaved relative along for the ride, but Madeline had insisted, and she was paying. Also it was undeniably true that having the blood of one of the victims relatives was handy, although Ellie would rather have that in a biohazard bag in her case, than walking around beside her. 

“I should have come!” Madeline snapped, apparently in no mood to be consoled. Ellie looked hopefully around her team for someone to pawn Madeline off on while she got on with the real work, but miraculously everyone had their head down in their own affairs. Sighing inwardly, Ellie wondered where she had left her aspirin.

Several floors above the baggage carousel a nondescript man in his late forties knelt in a chalk pentacle. The storage closet was only just large enough for the purpose, but it was out of the way and had been vouchsafed by a TSA officer who was a member of the congregation. The pentacle was of an unusual design, lacking the usual symmetry and stained in places with blood. A thick book, leather bound and printed sat in the center of the design as did an android smartphone, connected to the circle by two lengths of copper wire that were anchored into the bloody spots with adhesive putty.

“It is as you foretold,” the man said as he drew his mystical sight back up through the layers of concrete and steel, “The sister has returned, and she has brought allies.”

“Who?” the voice on the other end demanded, the speakerphone rendering his voice distorted and colorless in a way the watcher knew that it was not in truth.

“I do not recognise them, and I dare not look closer, on of them is as the Witch of Endor, she might sense my gaze were I to pry futher.” The speaker sweated through long heartbeats of silence, fearing he had displeased his master with his cowardice.

“The others?” the voice asked, chill but not in a cold killing rage.

“Uncertain master, shall I…”

“No we will use conventional means, return home at once that I may see your mind more clearly,” the disembodied voice commanded.

“These new comers are a complication and we are too far along to allow for complications.” There was a finality to the words that would have chilled the blood of a listener, had the listener still been human enough to fear anything other than his master.



[u][b]Privileged Information:[/b][/u]


[hider=Manny]
After we leave the airport you will notice we are being tailed. This is a team of several men who had originally planned to snatch Madeline but didn't expect us to be there.
[/hider]


[hider=Leon]
You would probably be able to feel the after effects of the viewing spell that was used on us.
[/hider]


[hider=Malone]
We get odd glances from several TSA officials, even though we do nothing to deserve such attention.
[/hider]