by N. P. Martin
"And who do you think was responsible?"
"You’ve already said his name."
"Iolas Tasar."
"Yes."
Benedict nodded. "I can’t say if you are right or not, not without a fuller investigation."
I shook my head in frustration as I felt my anger rising. "A fuller investigation? You’ve had three fucking months to investigate, and what have you done? Nothing!"
"To be fair," he said. "That’s not exactly true. A full investigation was indeed done into your mother’s murder."
"Really?" I stopped to glare at him. "Then why didn’t you trace the magic used to kill her?"
"Who said we didn’t?"
"What? You know… who killed her?" His contradictory answers were frustrating me.
"Let’s keep walking," he said, and strolled on ahead for a second before I caught up with him.
"Hey! Tell me what you know. I have a right—"
"No, you don’t."
"What?" I couldn’t believe his arrogance, and I just wanted to punch him out. "She was my mother!" A few students on the heath looked over after I raised my voice, and I glared angrily at them until they looked away.
Benedict continued to walk calmly, as if he was enjoying his stroll through the park. "There’s more at stake here, and a lot more going than just…" He trailed off, seeming to realize he was being insensitive. "I’m not saying getting justice for your mother isn’t important, I’m just saying that justice will have to be delayed for a little while."
I stopped again and shook my head just as he turned around. "This is bullshit!"
"This is how things have to be done," he said as he walked over to me. "If I give you the information you seek now, you will just mess up a larger operation."
I shook my head in disgust. "Fuck your operation, I’ll find out the name of the killer on my own soon enough anyway."
For the first time, he appeared slightly worried. "What do you mean?"
"I mean I dug my mother’s body. The magic used to kill her is being examined as we speak."
"Oh." He stood in thought for a minute. "Then perhaps I should explain to you exactly why I’m here."
"Go ahead. Like I give a shit anyway."
"Let’s walk again. I find it calming."
For a moment, I considered just walking away from him altogether, but then I thought that I might as well see what he wanted first. Sighing, I began to walk beside him again as we passed the bandstand in the center of the heath. "Talk," I said. "What the hell do you want from me?"
"I’m here to sort out Iolas Tasar," he said.
"Sort out?"
He nodded. "Yes. The Council believes him to be a threat to the stability of this island. Iolas is getting too big for his boots, so to speak. He thinks he answers to no one."
I thought about Arthur Cartwright, and all the people Iolas had under his thumb through debt and intimidation. "He doesn’t."
"Well, he’s supposed to. Even the Elven Council can’t control him."
"What do you suspect him of?"
"Lots of things, but mainly colluding with vampires in a plot to take over this country."
I went silent for a moment. Things were starting to make sense now. At least now I knew why Iolas had partnered with Constantine. "Are you aware of the properties Iolas is buying up, along with his silent partner, Prince Constantine?"
Benedict glanced down at me, a look of surprise on his face. "How did you know about that?"
"I’m running my own investigation into Iolas. What are the properties for?"
"We aren’t sure, but we think they may be for future blood farms."
"Blood farms? Those have been outlawed for a long time now. You’re saying the vampires here want to use humans as blood bags again?"
"Most likely, yes. We think Iolas and Constantine have come to some sort of power-sharing agreement, and between the two of them, they’ll run this entire country."
"But they already run the place," I said.
"Yes, but clearly not in the way they want to. If Iolas and Constantine have their way, they’ll make every human on this island their servant in some way. People will be herded up and treated like cattle. Obviously, we can’t allow that to happen."
I shook my head. "The Council allowed this to happen. If they had’ve come down harder on Iolas and Constantine in the past, instead of being afraid of them, things might not have gotten this far. Me ma would still be alive."
Benedict said nothing for a while as we continued walking around the park, until eventually he stopped and looked at me. "Look, I happen to agree with everything you just said. I also believe things have been allowed to escalate too far. The same thing happened in Luton with the Djinn. They were allowed to amass too much power and control, to the point where they basically took over the whole bloody town, treating the Untouched like their servants. The job we had sorting that out, and then trying to cover it all up from the media…" He trailed off as he shook his head. "I don’t want the same thing happening here. The Untouched do not need horrors inflicted on them by beings they didn’t even know existed in the first place. I’d hate to see this fine country come to ruin, wouldn’t you?"
"What do you think?"
"Well then, I would like to ask your help in assisting us with this problem."
"Why should I when you won’t even reveal the identity of me ma’s murderer?"
"If I tell you what you want to know you will fly in half-cocked and ruin this whole operation, and I can’t have that."
"So you’re saying it was Iolas who did it." It was a statement, not a question.
"I’m not saying that."
"You don’t have to."
He sighed. "Look, I’ll tell you this much: Iolas ordered your mother killed, but he didn’t do it himself."
I stood for a long time, in shock despite myself. I’d known all along it was Iolas, but to hear it confirmed suddenly made it seem more real, and more gutting. "Who’d he get to do it? His niece, Amelia?"
"I’m saying nothing more for the moment."
"I’m going to find out anyway."
"Hopefully, this operation will be over by then. After that, you can do what you want."
"Whatever I want? Does that include killing the person who killed me ma?"
He smiled somewhat grimly. "That’s up to you. If you help us now, we’re willing to look away later."
"Why would you need my help anyway? I’m sure you have all the resources you need."
"We do, except we don’t have access to Iolas or his home. You do."
"Not anymore."
Benedict frowned. "It was my understanding that you were working for Iolas."
"I was, but then he killed somebody in front of me this morning, someone he tried to say was me ma’s murderer, when in fact it was just some junky who happened to find a bracelet that belonged to me ma. Needless to say, I told Iolas to go fuck himself after that."
"I see." Benedict thought for a moment. "Not to worry, you can just go back and say that you reacted badly out of shock or something, and that you believe this Arthur person was the real killer."
I shook my head. "No, screw that. I’m not going back to that house…"
"We need an inside man, and Iolas is far too careful and paranoid for us to get anyone in there."
"Why can’t you just storm the palace, so to speak, and arrest him or kill him or do whatever it is you’re planning on doing to him?"
"We do plan on storming the palace, as you put it, but we can’t yet."
"Why not?"
"Iolas is in possession of a very ancient book of death magic," he said. "We think he plans to use it to gain control of the Untouched en masse, amongst other things. There’s a risk that if we make a move on him, he will take the book and go to ground, at which point he will probably use the magic in it and it will be too late to do anything then. So we need to take the book out of the equation first, before we move on Iolas."
I was beginning to
understand. "Which is where I come in. You want me to steal the book."
"Precisely."
I shook my head as I thought about it. "I can’t see me ever getting access to something so valuable to Iolas. What access I did have was limited at best."
"What about this Amelia you mentioned, Iolas’ niece? Would she have access?"
"Possibly, but…"
"But what?"
"I told her to fuck off as well."
Benedict smiled. "I’m sure she’ll forgive you. Just use your Irish charm."
I shook my head at him. "Wise up."
We had reached O’Connell Bridge now, which spanned part of the lake. Benedict stopped to lean on the stone arch as he gazed at the water below, which had barely a ripple on it. "We need your help here, Corvin. As I just explained, there’s a lot at stake. I understand it’s personal for you, but I’m asking you to look at the bigger picture as well, just until we can get Iolas into custody."
"You’re going to arrest him?"
"Of course. We’re not in the business of assassinations."
I doubted that. "And what about Constantine? He got away with killing my father, you know?"
"Did he? I don’t know anything about that."
Once again, I doubted that. "Are you going to arrest him too?"
"I only have orders to arrest Iolas. What happens later…" He shrugged. "Who knows?"
I leaned against the bridge, facing away from him with my arms folded. "You don’t really expect Iolas just to come quietly, do you? He’ll fight you tooth and nail."
Benedict plucked a small pebble from atop the bridge and tossed it into the water. At the same time, near the left bank, a tiny water sprite dived into the reeds as if rattled by the sudden noise. "That’s up to him. We’ll be prepared for any eventuality."
"So you’ll kill him if you have to?"
"If he leaves us no choice, then…" He looked at me, and in his eyes I saw something, a look that somehow suggested he was on my side after all, and that his real plan was to take Iolas out completely. Right then, I knew Benedict represented my best chance to get revenge on Iolas, especially now that I knew for certain the elf was responsible for my mother’s death. With Benedict’s help, and all the resources he undoubtedly had at his disposal, I could finally get my mother the justice she deserved.
"All right," I said. "I’m in."
Benedict stood up straight and smiled. "That’s what I like to hear."
"To be clear, though, I don’t work for you or the Council. I’m doing this purely to get justice for me ma, that’s it."
"Of course," he said nodding. "It wouldn’t be like a Brit to tell an Irishman what to do, now would it?"
Laughing slightly, I shook my head at him. Despite who he worked for, I was beginning to like Benedict Bonneville. "So what now?" I asked him as we began to walk back toward to the Arch again.
"Now you go back to Iolas and try to locate that book."
"And then steal it."
"Yes."
I shook my head. "I must be nuts doing this. If Iolas suspects me at all, he’ll kill me."
Benedict gave me a friendly pat on the back as we approached the car. "I have faith in you, Corvin, as your mother did as well. Besides, if you fail, there’s always plan B."
"What’s plan B?"
Benedict smiled as he sat in the car and looked out at me through the open window, at the same time handing me his card. "You don’t want to know. Just don’t screw things up."
And with that, he drove off, leaving me standing there holding his business card and wondering what the hell I’d just gotten myself into.
Chapter 22
I went back to the bookshop after meeting Benedict, opening up for business for the next few hours. I’d been neglecting the place since I got back, which I knew my mother wouldn’t have been happy about if she was around, so I promised myself that once I had dealt with Iolas (and assuming I made it out alive) I would dedicate some time to the bookshop, order in new stock and finally get around to employing someone to work in it. As attached as I was to the place, I had no desire to spend my days in it. Neither was it fair to expect Dalia to look after the place all the time, so I would have to find reliable help. Even the customers that came in after I opened up complained about the irregular opening hours. To appease them, I gave them generous discounts on their purchases, which seemed to keep them happy. It’s all about the customer service, as my mother used to say.
Just before closing time, Monty phoned me. "All right, bro," he said, sounding like he was back to his energetic and cheerful self after the previous night’s partying. "I hope I didn’t interrupt you touching yourself or anything."
"Yeah, well I hope you didn’t use your dick to dial the phone," I said smiling as I sat behind the desk.
"It’s strangely satisfying when you finally get through to the person. You should try it sometime."
"I will, next time someone leaves me handcuffed to a bed."
Monty laughed. "Sure it’s all a bit of craic at the end of the day, isn’t it? Something to tell your grandchildren about, am I right?"
"You’re going to tell your grandchildren about your sexual misadventures?"
"Sure why not? Me exploits will make for perfect bedtime stories, I’ve no doubt."
I laughed. "You’re a sick man. Why are you phoning anyway?"
"To tell yu I did some digging into that plane crash you told me about," he said. "Or rather, the lack of a plane crash."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean there’s no record of any plane ever crashing thirty years ago"
"What? Are you sure?"
"Positive, bro. No plane that ever left Ireland crashed anywhere in that year, or the year after for that matter. The only crash before that was five years previously."
"Interesting," I said nodding.
"What’s this about anyway? Iolas?"
"Yeah, or rather his niece. This was helpful, Monty, thanks."
"No problem, bro."
"Listen, there’s a plan in motion to get Iolas finally. I may need your help at some stage."
"You know me, bro, I’m always willing to lend a hand. Just give me a call when you need me."
"Awesome, thanks Monty."
"Oh, and by the way, you should check your YouTube channel."
"Why?"
"I may have used one of your songs as a backin' track to one of me videos, and guess what? People are diggin' it. I sent them all to your channel, so you should end up with lots of new fans."
A wide smile crossed my face. "You didn’t have to do that, but thanks. I mean it."
Monty went silent for a second. "Anything for you, bro."
After I closed up the shop, I went to meet Dalia, taking the car into the busy city center and wishing I hadn’t when I had to negotiate all the bloody rush hour traffic. Dalia was in Suffolk Street, standing under the awning of a cafe, dressed in black as always, despite the suffocatingly warm weather. She was staring straight ahead as I approached, her dark eyes appearing not to notice the constant flow of people going up and down the street, some of whom gave her strange looks, as if she freaked people out a little. Not that she cared about that, mind you. Dalia had long since gone past the point of caring what people thought of her, especially Untouched.
"Hey," I said as I went and stood beside her. "She come out yet?"
Dalia continued staring at the doctor’s surgery across the road, out of which people were still coming and going. "Not yet," she said shaking her head slightly. "She won’t be long, though. It’s almost closing time."
I nodded as I leaned against the shutter of the now closed cafe. "You been here long?"
"Not long. How are things?"
"The plot has thickened. I’ve a lot to tell you."
She barely glanced around at me. "I’ve something to tell you too."
"Oh yeah? What?"
"When I’m done here."
Dalia continued staring across at the
doctor’s surgery as more people filed out of it, some of whom were doctors who worked there, which meant the surgery would be closing shortly. As I stared across as well, I soon spotted a woman coming out the front door alone. She was in her late twenties, dressed in a navy trouser suit, her long dark hair tied up in a bun atop her head. As she turned around and I clocked her face, I almost shuddered, as I always did when I saw her, for she looked exactly like Dalia. Or at least, she looked like Dalia before the Fae took her.
The woman across the road was a Stock, no more than a piece of old wood really, endowed with Fae magic to look and act like the person she was supposed to replace, which of course was Dalia. The Other Dalia had carried on the life Dalia had before she was taken, finishing med school and becoming a doctor. Dalia’s family—her parents and siblings—all thought the Other Dalia was the real thing. They had no idea they were basically conversing with a magically endowed stick. It took Dalia a long time to accept this other version of herself which now walked in her old shoes, so to speak. In the process, she ended up developing a creepy fascination with the Other Dalia, and she could often be found stalking her, watching from afar like some wildlife buff tracking an animal. I didn’t really understand Dalia’s fascination with her Other, but I thought perhaps that she liked to see what possibly could’ve become of her, had she not been taken by the Fae. I also think she was slightly envious of her Other, and the normal life she led.
The Other Dalia seemed to have maintained the same dark countenance that Dalia possessed, only according to Dalia it was probably more severe, since Stocks almost always turned out to be somewhat joyless beings, as they were really no more than a shadow of the person they were meant to replace, endowed with just enough magic to allow them to function properly and blend in unnoticed. Their sense of humanity didn’t go much deeper than that.
Dalia’s Other lived alone in a nearby apartment. According to Dalia, her Other rarely went out except to work and visit the supermarket, where she apparently stocked up on alcohol mostly.
"Do you never get tired of seeing this… person?" I asked her as I stood beside her. "She’s not you, D. She’s just a magic trick; an illusion."
