“You never said what happened with the cops,” I asked West. Given my own experiences, I tended to keep a close eye on such things.
West shrugged. “I told them I’d busted up a fight between off-duty mill hunks and a gang of anarchists, from an anonymous tip. Spun out the story that it was part of a larger, hush-hush investigation and that Washington would be very grateful for their cooperation,” he added with a grin. “Fortunately, the chief bought it.”
I’d asked Colin back at the rooming house if there’d been any excitement lately. He told me there’d been a problem over at the mill, with a look that said he strongly suspected I’d been involved, but he let it go.
“Do you think the truce will hold?” Grace asked. “It’s going to be bloody around here if it doesn’t.”
I glanced at Ben, who was busy introducing a customer to his blind tiger. “It won’t make the wolves and vamps best friends, but they’re not stupid,” West said. “I think it will hold, well enough, anyhow. Getting rid of the Russian vampires should help a lot.”
The Countess had rolled on her accomplices pretty quickly, once she found out Rasputin and the chalice were gone. She’d promised to give back all the donations—Grace intended to make sure that happened. Countess Demidov had also proved helpful to West in steering him toward Rasputin’s hench-vamps. West, Ben, and I had taken it from there. They were either destroyed or on a cargo ship headed back to Russia.
“Now what?” Grace asked, taking a sip of whiskey. “What are we going to do next?”
West opened his mouth to tell her that there was no “we,” but I stepped on his foot—hard—and he shut his trap without saying anything. Frankly, I thought the four of us made a damn good team, and I felt sure that Colin and maybe even Oscar might be helpful future additions.
“I’ve got to go back to Washington,” West said, finishing off his booze. He eyed the bar as if he were debating having another. Ben took the matter out of his hands, dispatching a waiter with a fresh drink. “But I have a feeling I’ll be back soon.”
He gave me a look. “There’re whispers about warlocks near Reading, Pennsylvania, and a group that call themselves the Vril, stirring up problems with their hocus-pocus. Possibly tied in with the dicey things we’re hearing out of Germany these days. I’m likely to need your help, Joe.”
“Sounds right up my alley,” I replied, draining my own glass. I couldn’t help grinning at the thought of another case. “You wouldn’t want me to get bored, would you?”
Authors’ Note
We both grew up in Northwestern Pennsylvania, and lived in Pittsburgh for a decade. The Homestead Riots are still a wound in the city’s psyche, and the bloody resolution to that incident affected the course of labor relations throughout America.
Joe Magarac is a Pittsburgh legend, although there’s some debate as to whether or not he arose out of actual folklore, or was a newly invented tale passed off as old. His statue stands in Pittsburgh, as well as his image on several bridgeworks.
You may have noticed a few nods to our other series. West’s contact in Charleston on the occult is, of course, Sorren from the Deadly Curiosities books, a nearly 600-year-old vampire who helps save the world from supernatural threats. West’s Supernatural Secret Service is a more modern version of the Department of Supernatural Investigation from our Iron & Blood novels and Storm and Fury collection.
We hope you’ll check out all the Shadow Council series, and please stay tuned for more adventures from Joe Mack!
About the Authors
Larry N. Martin is the author of the new sci-fi novel Salvage Rat, and the new portal fantasy The Splintered Crown, A Tankards and Heroes novel. He is also the co-author of the Spells, Salt, and Steel series, the upcoming Wasteland Marshals series, and the Steampunk series Iron and Blood: The Jake Desmet Adventures (Solaris Books) as well as the related series of short stories/novellas: The Storm & Fury Adventures. He has co-authored stories in the anthologies Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens, The Weird Wild West, Alien Artifacts, Afterpunk, Gaslight and Grimm, Space, Contact Light, and Robots.
Gail Z. Martin writes urban fantasy, epic fantasy, and steampunk for Solaris Books, Orbit Books, Falstaff Books, SOL Publishing, and Darkwind Press. Urban fantasy series include Deadly Curiosities and the Night Vigil (Sons of Darkness). Epic fantasy series include Darkhurst, the Chronicles Of The Necromancer, the Fallen Kings Cycle, the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, and the Assassins of Landria. Newest titles include Tangled Web, Vengeance, The Dark Road, Sons of Darkness, and Assassin’s Honor. As Morgan Brice, Gail writes urban fantasy MM paranormal romance. Books include Treasure Trail, Witchbane, Burn, Dark Rivers, Badlands, The Rising, and Lucky Town.
Find us at www.GailZMartin.com / www.LarryNMartin.com, on Twitter @GailZMartin and @LNMartinAuthor, on Facebook.com/WinterKingdoms, at DisquietingVisions.com blog, on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/GailZMartin , on pinterest.com/Gzmartin and sign up for our newsletter at http://eepurl.com/dd5XLj
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Copyright 2019 by Gail Z. Martin and Larry N. Martin
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This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is coincidental. Except that bit about that guy. That’s totally a thing.
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