Shadow Hunter

by B R Kingsolver

  I dove to my right, rolling and coming up about seven feet from him. The burning trees were at my back, limiting my retreat options, but I had managed to gain some separation. We were both sweating and breathing heavily, and he hesitated before coming after me again.

  With a Word, I invoked the Sword of Uriel, a spell my Masters said had been dead for six hundred years before I came along. A three-foot bar of green flame leaped from my right hand. I swung at the Hunter as he closed, but he jumped away.

  “Scorpion.” I saw his eyes widen in the sudden light that my magical blade created in the clearing.

  “Fool,” I returned. “Don’t you know what the Illuminati are? You serve evil and corruption.”

  He laughed. “And you’re a naïve little girl, for all your power. Throughout history, there have been rulers and subjects. The strong rule.”

  His little speech ended with him leaping at me, his sword raised for an overhead blow. I parried with my magical sword. Half of the Hunter’s blade clanged against a rock ten feet away. He backed away, staring in shock at the stub of the sword he held in his hand.

  I was as shocked as he was but recovered faster. I took two steps forward and drove my blade into his guts. He screamed, dropping his sword and grasping my blade with both hands. Then he screamed again, and as he pulled his hands away from the flaming blade, I saw his palms were blackened and smoking.

  I pulled the sword out, and he dropped to his knees.

  “You will die slowly and painfully,” I said, “or I can end you painlessly. What is Mietzner’s plan?”

  He raised his head to look at my face, his ruined hands clasped around the wound in his belly. “Mietzner?” He looked puzzled. “Oh, the guy who owns the house. The politician.”

  The tone of his voice conveyed bewilderment. He truly didn’t know Mietzner.

  “Who is your contact?” I asked. “Hurry, or I’ll leave you here to die in the flames.”

  The fire had spread quite a bit, and in the back of my mind I remembered the water-out-of-air trick Sam had pulled on that vampire. I had thought it was pretty neat when Sam did it, but it would have been even better with the forest on fire around us.

  “Nava.”

  “Nava is Illuminati? Are there any more in Westport?”

  “Yes, he is one of us. I don’t know of any others.”

  Cursing myself for a fool, I granted him his release, driving the flaming blade into his chest. He stiffened, then his chin fell forward to his chest. When I pulled my sword out, he fell forward on his face. Not trusting him, I walked around him, placed the end of the sword at the base of his skull, and pushed, severing his spinal cord. Then I let the spell go. The only light in the clearing was from the burning fire.

  The heat of the fire grew more intense, but I took the time to strip the Hunter of the sheath for his long knife, and also took the six shorter knives he carried. I had walked away from my own weapons, wanting never to wield them again. But obviously, violence had followed me. The long knife was a spelled blade, just as his sword was, but the shorter knives were not. I also took his Illuminati satellite phone and put it in my pocket along with his wallet.

  And then I ran—away from my kill, away from the fire, away from my past once again. We had people holding Mietzner, but our most dangerous enemy was still on the loose.

  Chapter 28

  Halfway down the hill, I heard a voice shout, “Halt! Stop right there and put your hands in the air!”

  I was shielded, but I didn’t want anyone realizing that bullets didn’t harm me. Bad public relations. So, I did as he commanded. Two SWAT team members approached with assault rifles trained on me.

  “Please tell Lieutenant Blair that Erin McLane is here, the Hunter is dead, and there’s a forest fire burning on top of this hill.”

  They looked at each other, then one of them spoke into a little box he had clipped to his flak jacket. Then he listened, then he spoke again.

  “It’s okay,” he called out. “She’s with us. One of Blair’s contractors.”

  I cautiously lowered my hands. They questioned me about the fire, then got on their radios again. Evidently the smoke could be seen from the road on the city side of the mountain, and I was told the fire department was on its way.

  Making my way down the hill, I reached the house and found Blair.

  “I got a call saying the Hunter is dead?”

  “Yeah. He did tell me that Mietzner wasn’t the one pulling his strings. He said it was Daniel Nava.”

  Blair stared at me, then got on the phone. He made one call, but I could tell no one answered. He dialed again and talked to someone for about five minutes. When he hung up, he called his team together, then talked to the head of the SWAT unit, and then to the lieutenant in charge of the normal cops.

  Finally, he turned to me. “Nava showed up at Mietzner’s with a few men, then he and Frankie took Mietzner away. They never showed up at the jail, and Frankie doesn’t answer her phone. I sent some men to Nava’s house.”

  “You might try Carleton House,” I said.

  His expression told me that he thought I’d lost my mind.

  “Who were the men who showed up with Nava at Mietzner’s?” I asked.

  Blair shook his head. “I don’t know. Captain Munroe didn’t recognize them.”

  “Did they have very pale complexions? Nava has used Rodrick Barclay’s thugs in the past, though he’s also used mages.”

  He looked thoughtful. “Why would he take Frankie with him, though?”

  Lizzy walked up, with Jolene, Trevor, and Josh trailing behind her.

  “So that he can tell you that Jones and Mietzner killed each other,” Lizzy said.

  That got him moving.

  “Did you See that?” I asked her in a low voice.

  She was very pale, even more so than usual. “I’m Seeing all kinds of terrible things tonight. They can’t all happen, because some of them are contradictory. Don’t go with them. You don’t have to.” Her voice almost broke.

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “Because Mietzner knows your secret.”

  “No, I don’t think he does. But I’ll never be safe here as long as he’s alive. He’ll bring in another Hunter.” I was no longer worried about Mietzner. Nava was Illuminati, and I couldn’t allow him to live.

  She reached out and squeezed my arm. “Okay. We’ll watch your back.”

  I looked over her head and saw the three mouseketeers nodding.

  “You don’t have to,” I said.

  Jolene shrugged. “It’s what friends do. Besides, we know where he is.”

  Blair evidently heard that, because he spun around. “You do?”

  Lizzy nodded. “He’s not at Carleton House, but there’s an old barn or something near there.”

  “The old carriage house,” Jolene said. “Lizzy Saw it, and Trevor found an aerial view of the estate. My magic says that’s where Nava’s going. It feels right.”

  Blair called his team back together, then spoke with the SWAT captain again. A lot of people piled into cars and took off. Blair pulled me into the back seat of his car, along with Lizzy and Jolene. Detective Mackle, the orange-haired witch, rode up front with her boss.

  When we got near the estate, Jolene directed Blair to drive past the paved road leading to Carleton House. A hundred yards farther down the road, we came upon a narrow, dirt driveway almost hidden by the trees. A light rain had started to fall, and some mud and gravel had washed down onto the pavement, but we could still see recent car tracks on the driveway.

  Blair killed his lights and drove on, pulling off the side of the road a hundred feet past the driveway. The dozen cars following us also doused their lights and found places to park.

  The plan was to send the SWAT team ahead, take out any sentries, and surround the carriage house. Then the magic users would move in.

  I pulled Blair aside. “You might want to send someone who can detect magic with your SWAT team,” I told him. “I know Mietzne
r isn’t a Hunter, but remember all those booby traps at the Hunter’s place?”

  “I don’t really have anyone who can do that,” he said.

  I turned and motioned for Lizzy to come forward. “She can. I’ll go to protect her.”

  While I explained what we needed to Lizzy, Blair had another talk with the SWAT captain. I felt bad, because I could see my friend was scared half to death, but she squared her shoulders and said she’d do it. I felt proud of her, and guilty, but I needed her Sight.

  “Lizzy, I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll have you covered all the way. Just stay behind me, okay?”

  She nodded like a little girl, her eyes wide and her expression somber.

  I threw up a shield over us to keep us dry and pulled her close to me. “Can you see? In the dark, I mean?” I asked her.

  Lizzy chuckled and seemed to relax a bit. “Much better than you can.”

  I remembered she was half-Fae. I really didn’t expect much in the way of traps or alarms, but better to be safe. Nava hadn’t had time to prepare for his Hunter being exposed, and of course, he couldn’t know the Hunter was dead.

  We walked along the driveway, two SWAT team members flanking us and a little behind, their assault rifles at the ready. The carriage house came into view as we rounded a long curve. Beyond it were stables and a large open area with the main house in the distance to our right. Light showed dimly through a couple of the carriage house windows.

  “I don’t See any magic,” Lizzy said. “There are people inside who are magical, though.”

  “Great. Thanks, Lizzy. You can go on back now. Tell Blair to send in the rest of the mages.”

  “Okay,” she said, backing away from me. As she stepped out from under my shield, I noted that the rain didn’t hit her. It wasn’t as though she had her own shield deployed, but she just didn’t get wet.

  I signaled to the SWAT team guys. “No booby traps,” I whispered.

  They didn’t look convinced, and I didn’t blame them. No doubt they wondered what kind of madness afflicted the weird people they had to work with.

  Soon, Trevor and Josh came up the drive with Blair.

  “Any idea how many people are in there?” Blair asked.

  “No. Do you want me to go look?” Without waiting for his response, I ran in a crouch to the building. Creeping along the wall, I reached one of the windows that showed light. I raised up and peeked in at the corner of the window. The first people I saw were vampires, two by the door to the room, and another one standing with his back to me. Mietzner and Nava stood in the middle of the room talking to each other.

  Then I saw Frankie, her wrists and ankles shackled, with a gag in her mouth, lying against one wall. She was awake and glaring daggers at the two men.

  I didn’t think the Hunter had lied to me, but either Mietzner was also a member of the Illuminati, or he had been seduced by Nava’s schemes. Another thought occurred to me as I made my way back to where Blair waited with my friends. The Hunter might not have known that Nava had a boss in the Order. Considering the amount of foreign trade that moved through Westport, the city was wealthy, and having two Illuminati stationed there would make sense. It wasn’t even unusual that they knew each other, but it called into question a number of my assumptions. Were there any more members of the Order in the Columbia Club?

  “Frankie’s in there,” I told Blair when I got back to him. “She doesn’t appear to be hurt, but she’s bound with those shackles you use for magic users. The problem is that both Nava and Mietzner are also there and acting like buddies. Do you know what their affinities are?”

  “Nava’s is fire,” Josh said. “My dad knows him.”

  “Mietzner’s is earth,” Lizzy said. “And yes, Nava’s is fire. I can See them.”

  “What does that mean?” Blair asked. “Earth?”

  “Earthquakes,” Trevor said. “He can open a hole under your feet, then cover you up.”

  Earth could do a lot more than that, but I didn’t think a dissertation on the subject was needed at that point. Getting buried alive was scary enough to make people wary.

  “I also saw a bunch of vampires,” I told them. “I suggest your SWAT guys load up on that incendiary ammunition you use.”

  “We have the building surrounded,” Blair said. “Normally, we would call for the people inside to surrender.”

  “Normally, the crimes of the people inside are something you can take into court,” I said. “If we don’t get Frankie out alive, there aren’t any witnesses. Nava and Mietzner will make up some story, and you won’t have any way to disprove it. Vampires aren’t witnesses. They’re dead, remember?”

  Looking over Blair’s shoulder, I saw a man walking toward us from the direction of the stables. As he got closer, I recognized him as George Flynn, dressed in an elegant suit with a blood-red pocket square and tie.

  “Lieutenant, Ms. McLane,” Flynn said when he reached us. “You seem to be uncertain about how to proceed. Perhaps I can be of service.”

  Blair started to say something, but I cut him off. “Can you get all the vamps out of there?” I asked.

  “Tsk, tsk. Such an ugly pejorative. Still, better than bloodsucker, but please, Ms. McLane, let us maintain some decorum.”

  I grinned at him. “I shall try and remember my manners, sir.” I mocked a low curtsey, even though I wasn’t wearing a dress.

  “See that you do.” He looked down his nose at me, but I could see the corners of his mouth twitch as he fought a smile.

  “Please, dear sir, do you think you could persuade your clansmen to abandon the criminals inside yon domicile?” I asked, batting my eyes at him like a brainless idiot. I heard Jolene and Lizzy crack up, but I maintained my beseeching stare.

  Flynn’s smile broke free. “Anything for such a charming lady.”

  He turned and marched along the road to the carriage house, pulled open a door, and disappeared inside.

  “And why would he help us?” Blair asked.

  “Brownie points. Good will and the chance to twist Rodrick Barclay’s tail.”

  Almost immediately, a couple of vampires exited the building and started across the field toward the main house. Over the next few minutes, a dozen more followed, and finally, Flynn himself came out.

  “Only three people left inside,” Flynn said. “A couple of them were a bit concerned that Barclay ordered his people to leave, but I don’t think they suspect why. Let me know if I can do you any further service.”

  He bowed, and I curtseyed again, then he wandered off into the dark.

  Chapter 29

  “Well, that simplifies things,” Blair said. “Any suggestions as to what we do next?”

  “I think you have very few choices,” I said. “You can invite them to come out and hope they don’t kill Frankie. You can give them a head start and not pursue them if they let her go. You can light the place on fire and hope we can rescue her in time, or you can assault every door, and hope it distracts them enough that I can rescue her during the confusion.”

  “And why should you be the one to rescue her?”

  “Because my shields are stronger than anyone else’s. But I’m not hung up on it. If someone else is better qualified, I’ll gladly sit out here where it’s safe.”

  Detective Mackle pulled at his sleeve. “She has a point, Boss.”

  “You do need to make up your mind soon, though,” Lizzy said. “They didn’t bring her out here for a romantic tryst.” I shot Lizzy a glance and could clearly see she was very agitated. I wished for a moment I could see what she was Seeing, then decided I was better off without knowing.

  We counted six doors into the carriage house, including the large double doors at each end that the horses and carriages had used when Lord Carleton built the place. Blair stationed two mages at each of the small doors, backed up by two SWAT men. Detective Mackle set wards blocking the two large double doors.

  I positioned myself by the door closest to the room where the me
n had Frankie. It seemed like I stood there forever before the signal finally came. A single gunshot.

  A SWAT man had a battering ram to break down the door, but I didn’t wait for him. I pushed ley energy at the door, and it exploded inward. I reinforced my shield for about the sixth time and dashed through the door.

  I was in a small room with one door on the right at the other end. Before I could move forward, Daniel Nava stepped into the room, a pistol leveled at me.

  “You stupid, interfering bitch,” he whined.

  “Me? I was perfectly happy just living my life until you started sending your goons to attack me.”

  He turned red in the face, his eyes narrowed, and he tensed—all signs someone is preparing to pull the trigger. In spite of my shield, my training and instincts had me moving before he fired the shot.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of something pink and white, but I was already charging Nava. He got off two more shots before I ran into him, my shield absorbing the energy of his shield. His eyes bulged as my hand closed on his throat, and his head hit the wall with a sound like a bat hitting a baseball.

  I spun through the doorway into the next room. Mietzner stood in the middle of the room, and he didn’t look happy. Frankie still lay on the floor where I had seen her earlier, and she was still alive.

  “You never did call me,” Mietzner said. “All that flirting. I had hoped to avoid this kind of scene.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you,” I said, pushing a ley missile at him. It flared when it hit his shield. I didn’t want him talking. The less Frankie knew about the situation and Mietzner and me, the better.

  A deep rumbling sound was accompanied by the world lurching and the floorboards groaning and squeaking in protest. I pushed another ley missile at him and followed it with a push of ley energy. His shield flared again, but not as brightly, and he staggered.

  The floor rolled as though we were on a ship. The outside stone wall of the room crumpled, and Mietzner started to turn in that direction, preparing to run.

  My next ley missile destroyed his shield, and the following one vaporized him, just as it had the vampires at the flour mill. The earthquake calmed down, the tremors diminishing in strength. I rushed across the room, grabbed the chain between the shackles on Frankie’s wrists, and dragged her outside amidst a rain of falling debris. I got her far enough away from the building that she wouldn’t be hit with any more debris if it fell down.