by J. P. Rice
I cut him off, “We’re good. But you go ahead.”
“You sure?” he asked, his ruby eyes filled with life again.
“Yeah, have fun. You deserve it,” I said, waving goodbye. “Oh, wait. One last thing. What was the joke?”
“Joke? What joke?” he muttered.
“You said Nandita told you a joke right before you were separated,” I reminded him.
“Oh, that one. It’s not a very good one,” Gareth said.
“I don’t care. I want to hear it,” I told him.
“Okay. Here she goes.” He paused. “Are you sure?”
“Just tell me the joke already,” I demanded.
“What did the buffalo say when his oldest boy left?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know.”
“Bison.” He laughed. “Get it? Bye son.”
I nodded, tightlipped. “That was as bad as advertised. Bravo, sir.”
We left the bar and headed back to my house. With Gareth’s clue, we needed to surveil Warren and get to the bottom of this. I had a feeling this operation involved heavy hitters.
We arrived at my house and hopped out of the car. The Morrigan left for her lair. Justinian and I had wild sex all night long. Kidding. Just kidding. The young wolf fell asleep on my couch with the plan to go home in the morning.
Just as I was about to lose consciousness, my phone buzzed with a text alert. Normally, I’d ignore it and check it in the morning. But not when there was a chance my dragons could need me. I reached over and grabbed my cell off the nightstand.
Chapter 25
I STARED AT THE SAPPHIRE eggs inside the incubator, trying to will them to hatch. My lack of knowledge about the subject only added to my impatience. I wanted my dragons, and I wanted them now despite my grogginess. Jonathan had texted me several times throughout the night about the duel. It had forced me to shut off my phone so I could get some rest.
Owen descended the steps into his basement. “Here we are now.” He handed me a Vitamin Water, dragon fruit flavor. Hopefully, it would be good luck.
I backed up and rested on the arm of his black leather couch. The fire cracked, and I jerked my head in reaction. An ornate stone fireplace took up most of the back wall with bench seating flanking both sides of the fire. I hoped the constant flames would spur the dragons to hatch. I turned my attention back to the wooden table with the incubator that sat in between the fire and couch.
“What did I miss?” he asked rhetorically, sinking into a blue leather recliner facing the incubator.
“Have you been able to find anything out?” I asked, unscrewing the cap of my drink.
He ignored my question. Staring at the fire, he jumped up out of the recliner. He snatched the poker and used it to slide open one half of the metal screen covering the fire. He stabbed at the logs while the coals crackled and fizzled. He finally said, “No. I’ve done quite a bit of research, but the topic of dragon birth is virtually nonexistent. Why? Have you heard something?”
“No,” I responded, bouncing up and down. “I just know it’s taking forever.”
In a serious tone, Owen said, “Actually. It hasn’t been that long at all.”
“I know. I was just making a bad joke. I forgot you owned that block.” I stopped bouncing around and chugged more Vitamin Water.
Owen blushed, his eyes changing to a dull pumpkin orange. “Yes, well. I suppose I am known for that. Has the Morrigan found out anything on this Warren fellow yet?”
I leaned in close to the incubator, my forehead almost touching the thick plastic. I gazed at the thirteen sapphire dragon eggs. “No. She has her crows tracking him. But who knows how long it will take? My patience is running out on that front and with these dragons.”
Owen went to speak and stopped himself. Holding a finger in the air, his voice squeaked as he spoke, “Have you broached the specter that there might not be dragons inside these eggs?”
I rose and stared him in the eyes. “Don’t you dare say that,” I snapped. I calmed myself down a touch with a few deep breaths. “I need this right now. There are dragons inside. And they will be my new family. Nobody will convince me otherwise.”
“No. I’m not rooting for that scenario. My worry is that if you get your hopes too high...”
I cut him off, “My hopes are right where they need to be.” I chugged the rest of the Vitamin Water and set it on the bench seat of the stone fireplace next to a stack of old newspapers. “I’ve got to go. Call me if anything happens. Anything.”
I gave him a quick hug and threw on my jacket. I didn’t want any negativity around my dragons.
As I walked out Owen’s front door, the arctic blast swept my thoughts of raising dragons aside and reminded me to remain focused on the mission at hand. I wondered whether the Morrigan’s avian sleuths had located Warren. The wait gave me time to tie up a few loose ends.
I still needed to track down Thor. The Norse God of Thunder had a knack for driving Loki crazy, which I admired. Thor could keep the God of Mischief so busy that he would forget all about me.
I called the dive bar named Dietches where he worked and asked for Todd. The employee stated that he was off today. It appeared I would have until the next day to confront Thor.
In the meantime, I needed to contact the Morrigan and see if her crows had found any valuable information.
Chapter 26
I CRUISED DOWN FREEPORT Road, the tires of my Jeep crunching through the coarse chunks of road salt and spitting up black snow. It was time to surprise Thor. In the past few days, I’d noticed some shady characters who appeared to be following me. I assumed Loki and Tyr had something to do with it.
If I could convince Thor to go back to Asgard, Loki would spend most of his time jostling with the fallen God for the throne. However, Thor had refused to talk to me last time I’d seen him, so this could go either way.
A set of high beams in my rearview mirror nearly blinded me and grew brighter by the second. I flipped the little tab at the bottom of the mirror to deflect the light and wondered who was riding my ass. As my vision came back into sharp focus, it appeared to be a monster truck with two powerful spotlights strapped to the front of it. I knew one thing. A huge vehicle was right on my back bumper.
I ignored the stupid yinzer and tried to keep calm. As I took a deep breath, the truck pulled into the lane of opposing traffic. Was this asshole trying to pass me? His or her headlights shone in my side-view mirror.
Wham! The giant truck rammed into my rear quarter panel and sent my Jeep sideways, hurtling headlong into a parked black Audi. My hands slipped off the wheel as the front passenger tire crawled up the hood of the Audi, and my push bar rammed into a wooden telephone pole, setting off the airbag, which felt like a Mike Tyson punch to the face.
Streaking silver stars zipped around my dazed vision. The vehicle rolled back onto the Audi and fell onto its side. Discombobulated, I went to open my door and turned my head to the window. I saw snowy pavement and quickly realized I had to find another exit. I took off my seatbelt, shimmied out of the driver’s seat and popped open the passenger door.
I crawled up and out of the Jeep and collapsed into a heap. I rolled onto my back in the middle of the road as the slushy snow meshed into my jeans and gray winter jacket. Through my hazy vision, I saw a gigantic woman in black lumber up to me.
She slowed down as she neared, measuring me with her creepy gaze. As I went to sit up, I realized who it was. A weird rush ran through my head and I fell back again, but I knew my attacker now.
Hel. Loki’s daughter. How fitting. She stood over me, her long, dark hair covering half of her face, staring at me with her all-white eye. Her hideously scarred face of craterous valleys and shiny peaks looked like she had been burned horribly. The gross sight made me want to throw up. I struggled to sit up and confront her.
Before I made it to my feet, Hel’s foot sprang forward. She jammed the sole of her black boot against my windpipe and knocked me back. As I fe
ll back, she moved with me and kept her foot over my throat, applying pressure and pushing down with all her weight.
The back of my head smacked the pavement, and Hel’s foot cut off my breathing. In an act of desperation, I grabbed the front and back of her faded leather boot and pushed up, but my effort didn’t cause her to budge. Gagging, I twisted her foot around, but it yielded the same terrible results.
Hel was wearing a tight black outfit that looked like an artist had painted it onto her body. Her pants stopped just above her ankle, leaving some milky flesh exposed. Choking and running low on air, I let go of her shoe and dug my hand into a little pile of snow next to me. As I fished around, my finger bumped into a large piece of road salt.
I snatched it out, located the sharpest edge and slashed it across Hel’s ankle. She screamed in agony and yanked her foot away with blood already gushing from the wound. I sucked in some sweet winter air. However, my victory was short lived as Hel came right back at me and used her other foot to choke me. As I gargled and flopped around, I called on the strength that I’d obtained from the Bavarian Warlock.
But would it be enough? Hel’s parents were Loki and a giant. This big bitch took after her mother and had plenty of size and weight to choke me out.
A shot of energy ran through my weakened body, then a jolt of power pulsed in my biceps. Using both hands, I grabbed the back of her boot with my right and the toe with my left. With strength surging through me, I twisted my hands violently. Something in her knee or ankle popped, and Hel yelped in pain and limped away. She tried to slink away, but when she put pressure on her injured leg, she tumbled to the ground, grabbing at the injury.
I staggered to my feet, and as I approached Hel, I noticed her hands were glowing like the raging coals of a summer fire. Knowing that meant she was about to release a furious attack of fire, I shuffled my feet backward, putting some distance between us. Hel sat up in the middle of the street with a fireball sitting in each hand.
She pump-faked twice, then flicked her wrist and gunned the first one at my head. I ducked it easily and got on the balls of my feet. She threw the second one sidearm, and it zipped toward my knees. I waited, waited, waited and jumped over the flaming mass. I turned over my shoulder and watched it crash into a parked Jaguar, busting out the rear window, burrowing into the back seat and igniting the leather interior.
I ran to my left and dove behind a parked Ford F-250 as a streaking fireball busted off the front bumper. Sparks jumped from the chrome bumper and it screeched to a skidding stop on the sidewalk. Time to fight fire with fire. My aim was always true.
I conjured some compact flames to my hands and waited for Hel to strike again, so I could counter. Instead, I heard a car door slam shut and the revving engine of a monster truck. Fook.
From behind the Ford F-250, I saw her vehicle speeding in reverse away from the action. I jumped out from behind the truck and watched her ding a few parked cars as she straightened out her truck.
Now that she was on a straight path, I zinged a fireball down the street at her gigantic black truck. The flaming mass screamed toward her windshield, picking up speed as it traveled. I started to smile as the fireball closed in, but at the last second, the truck jerked to the side and two tires came off the ground. The herky-jerky truck reversed wildly onto an intersecting street. The fireball sailed by, careening down Freeport Road as her shaky vehicle rocked to a stop.
Hel pulled the truck out on Freeport again, and I contemplated zinging some more flames at her. But now that she was in drive, she had much more control over the truck. On second thought, she would probably just dodge this one too, and I could end up hurting an innocent bystander. Not worth it for someone who was trying to be a better person. I dissolved the mass of flames in my hand and turned to my vehicle, sitting on its side.
I rubbed my arms and moved closer to the burning Jaguar to warm up on the expanding fire that had spread to the front seat. It was obvious Loki had sent Hel after me. I’d prevented him from getting what he’d needed to kill Odin and he wanted revenge. Hel seemed to underestimate me and think that I would let her choke me out.
The fact that she’d come after me when I was on my way to see Thor made me ultra-suspicious too. I would have to stay away from Thor for the next few days at least. I couldn’t afford to lead Loki straight to him. It also meant I needed to watch my back even more than usual now.
The sirens sounded in the distance and started getting louder with each passing moment. I hoped the agency was paid up on my Jeep’s insurance policy. My rates were about to go through the roof with two claims in one fortnight. I looked around at the carnage and wondered exactly how I would explain this to the cops.
A man in a bathrobe ran out onto the sidewalk, and screamed, “My fucking car. What did you do to my fucking Jag?”
“Sorry, sir. I will take care of the damage.”
“Take care. How do you take care of it? How am I going to get to work?”
I took two purposeful steps toward him, lowered my voice and spoke calmly, “You’re making me angry. Look around at what happens when I get angry.”
The man backed up, looking around at the other damaged cars. He softened his tone and said, “You better have insurance, that’s all I know.”
I contemplated leaving the scene before the authorities showed up and claiming that someone had stolen my car. But when I looked around at all the gawking citizens who had come outside, I knew they could ID me to the police. I shielded my eyes from the oncoming blue and red flashing lights and prepared to lie to the cops.
Chapter 27
I GOT THE CALL FROM the Morrigan early in the morning. I changed lanes on my way to meet her in the Northside. She’d spotted Warren in Clara Spiritus and had her minions trail him into Pittsburgh.
Choking the technomancer to death to get revenge for my father would be my greatest accomplishment. I wanted to look him in the eyes and ask why.
I planned to ask that question and get an answer right before I cut off the oxygen supply to his windpipe. I’d never had something as personal as this happen before. There were only a few dozen individuals that I really cared about. And my father was the first to die so this was new territory for me.
I met up with the Morrigan and she took me to a ratty old apartment building. We walked up to the top floor of the five-story brick building. The Morrigan stopped near a window in the hallway. Her hands emerged from her raven feather cloak with a pair of binoculars in each hand.
She tapped the glass of the window with her pointer finger. “I saw him park two streets over.”
I scanned the block without the binoculars. “What? In that row of abandoned warehouses?”
“Yep. Third one from the right. That big gray one with peeling paint and busted-out windows is the one Warren went into,” revealed the Morrigan.
“Okay. I see his car out there on the street. Was he with anyone?” I asked, putting the binoculars to my eyes.
“All by his lonesome. But there’s no telling if there was somebody already inside. I’d like to believe this is the death card factory, but I can’t imagine why they would set up shop in Pittsburgh.” She sighed deeply. “Of all the places to hide something.”
“Hubris?” I guessed and shrugged my shoulders. Then I thought about the secret I was hiding in Pittsburgh. Was that a subliminal message for me to get my dragons to a safer place? “What are you thinking?”
The Morrigan squinted and pursed her lips. “I’m thinking we wait for this guy to come back out and then maybe we bust in and take a look. I’d love to kick the door in, magic blazing, but we don’t know who or what’s inside yet. It could just be a meeting place.”
“Play it by ear, then. Obviously, Brighid is involved, but I can’t wait to see who else is guiding this guy. There’s no way he’s doing it with only the blessing of Brighid. And I’m going to kill each and every one of them for my father,” I promised.
Mo stuffed her binoculars back inside her cloak. “The
y tried to make me look like a fool. It’ll be a race for the killings. I bet I beat you.”
Only the Morrigan could turn vengeful murder into sport. We staked out the warehouse for another hour and I started getting really bored. I hated waiting around.
The Morrigan tapped on the glass. “Oh, look. We got action.”
I raised the binoculars to my eyes and peered across two streets at the factory. Warren stood outside the front doorframe talking to somebody on the inside. He waved goodbye, turned and headed for his car.
Five seconds later, a tall, old man with a potbelly stepped out of the warehouse, followed by a dark-skinned woman with purple hair. Merlin and the Bounty Huntress. I could have guessed as much.
I waited for more people to spill out of the warehouse, but the Bounty Huntress locked the door. It didn’t make much sense because there were busted out windows in several places, making entry rather easy.
They started to walk away when Merlin turned around facing the warehouse and held his new staff in front of his chest. Fook. I knew exactly what he was doing. His specialty.
I watched bits of golden enchantment shower down from the sky, covering the warehouse, seeping into the foundation, then disappearing suddenly. That meant he’d locked in his defense ward. Unless we could break the spell, this mission just got extremely complicated.
I pulled my binoculars down and turned to the Morrigan. “If he set a protection or repellent threshold over the building, I would assume that nobody is left inside. It’s a long shot, but we should still try to bust in.”
“Agreed,” the Morrigan said and I could tell she was pissed too.
We walked over to the warehouse instead of driving in case someone showed up again. My banged-up Jeep was as good as an ID card. I shivered in the bitter chill of Pittsburgh that grew colder with each passing day.
As we neared the warehouse, I got a good look at the defense spell Merlin had set. Protection spells usually appeared to magic practitioners as a swirl of numbers and letters and you had to find an inconsistency in it. For instance, if a bunch of numbers were rolling by and a letter appeared, you could exploit that and break the spell. The strength of the spell established the coding and the speed at which it traveled.
