by TR Cameron
Kayleigh shrugged. “It’s always possible that they won’t rob the location we choose or that we won’t see them coming if it’s the first.”
Cara laughed. “You have all the surveillance in the world. How would we not see them coming?”
“That’s a good point. But things happen, sometimes. Illusions, system failures, EMPs. These are rare but possible.” She gestured again and the location at the northernmost end of the triangle lit up. “This is the place with the best odds.” The tech spread her hands apart, and the image zoomed in. It was one of the seedier streets in the town with a bar on one side and an abandoned apartment building on the other. It had no entrances or exits other than the front as it butted up against structures on all sides. The metal plates on the sidewalk near the door indicated the lift that led to the underground storage.
Diana clapped her hands decisively. “That’s it, that’s the one. We’ll go with the odds and post there tomorrow night unless we hear something different. Kayleigh, keep your eyes on them and send out the alert if we get any sign they’ll move tonight.”
The tech nodded, and Cara began to speak. Diana cut her off. “Shut it. Yes, I know a mobile armory would be perfect for this. You’re like a skipping record. Armory, armory, armory.” She threw up her arms in mock frustration. “Honestly, go make yourself useful, people. Get some bounties. Hit the range. But quit annoying me, will ya?”
Rath’s small hands gripped her ear to move into proper position. He whispered, “Armory. Pew pew.” She groaned, and he cackled. Everyone’s against me.
Chapter Twelve
After the planning meeting about the pirate—I will so get that hat—Diana had banished them all to their own tasks for the day. For Rath, that meant foot patrol with Max. The magical train took him almost all the way back to their new house to pick up his partner. They decided to stay in the neighborhood but near the edge where it met the other university.
He’d been surprised to find there was a second school nearby, and even more shocked at how close they were. When he mentioned it to Diana, she’d laughed and explained that there were actually several more near where they lived, and one downtown, a few blocks from their HQ building. Point Park University shared a name with the big green space that filled the area between the rivers as they came together a short distance away from the base. Nearest to their home was Carnegie Mellon, which was apparently named after two very rich people from a time long past.
Exactly like the other one, businesses and restaurants were everywhere. The buildings were fancier than in the streets next to where Professor Charlotte Stanley worked, but none were as eye-catching as the tall cathedral. There was more green space, and with the warm day, more people made use of the expansive lawns. Max dashed and wove between them and he and the small troll who rode with a hand securely gripping the dog’s collar generated laughs from the students.
While they roamed more or less at random, Rath kept his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary or any areas they hadn’t yet explored. He saw one and gave the Borzoi a pat to move him in that direction. It was farther down than they’d been so far, almost at the border between the two schools’ territories. A strange-looking old house had apparently been turned into an antique store if the sign in front was any indication. They stood before it and studied the odd building. From the high peak of the sharply angled roof to the ornate wooden banisters that bounded the porches on the ground level and the floor above, it seemed somehow ominous and otherworldly. Dark grey and black paint covered the sides, and the front door was elegant wood and stained glass.
It was also open and only a screen door in front of it separated the interior from the outside. Rath shrugged and prodded Max forward. The dog gave a soft growl, and the troll poked him again with a scowl. When they made it onto the porch, he flipped off the dog’s back and grew to his three-foot size in order to clear the way. They stepped into another time.
A long wooden staircase began a few feet inside and led to the second floor. The banister widened from top to bottom and ended in a large horizontal spiral. Beside the stairs on the right was a hallway that led deeper into the building. Rath walked forward slowly and scrutinized the stamped brown tin ceiling, something he’d only before seen in pictures. Light fixtures shaped like candelabras hung from it at equal intervals. The duo turned right and passed through a narrow entrance into the space beyond.
It was an ornate sitting room with a desk in the far corner that held an ancient cash register. A pair of large wingback leather chairs near the front window shared a small round end table between them. The nearest was unoccupied. In the other, however, was a man he’d seen before. They hadn’t formally met, though. He’s one of the new Griffins. Rath knew the group of older witches and wizards didn’t actually consider themselves representatives of that august organization, but that’s how he thought of them. And it fits. His first sight of the person had been with Professor Charlotte and the other members of her team.
The man clearly recognized him, and his silver-bearded face broke out into a wide grin. “Young troll, it is good to finally see you rather than simply hear about you!” He stood and revealed that he wore a light navy robe, unfastened, with arcane symbols embroidered in bright white down the lapels. Underneath, his pants and shirt were both black, and the panels on his wingtips matched the figures above the only break in the pattern. He strode forward and held a hand out. “Emanuel Kensington. Call me Manny.”
He shook it with a firm grip and nodded. “Rath.” He looked around the room. “Your house?”
Manny laughed and his dark eyes twinkled. “No, my business, actually. I live a few blocks away. It makes for an easy commute, which is important when you’re as ancient as I am.”
You don’t move like someone old. Rath noticed the slight weight in each of his sleeves and judged the man had a wand or some other kind of weapon hidden in them. He approved wholeheartedly. Right now, his collapsed batons and utility belt rode in the saddlebags Max wore. He and Kayleigh had tried to figure out how to safely include grenades but decided it wasn’t worth the burden or the potential risk. “Seem young. What is this place?”
Manny spread his arms wide. “This is my shop, where lost and abandoned things wash up to be delivered to new owners.” He walked over to a china cabinet and opened it to remove an ornate goblet. “It looks real, right?” The troll nodded. “It’s actually a movie prop from when they shot The Last Witch Hunter in town. I have quite a selection from that film.”
Rath scowled. “Not a fan. Pitch Black. Riddick. Better.”
The elder wizard laughed. “Fair enough. And I can’t argue. I love the silver eyes.” The troll nodded agreement. “There are a couple more rooms like this down here, but you might be more interested in the one upstairs. Would you care to see it?” Without waiting for an answer, the man brushed past him and led the way up the creaking staircase.
The troll looked at Max, who had stood in the room’s entrance the entire time. “Think it’s okay?” He barked once, and he took that as an affirmative. He jumped onto the banister and ran up it to reach the second floor immediately after his host with the dog a few steps behind. There was an open door ahead that led to a bathroom and a hallway that turned toward the front of the house and held two doors on the left. One was closed, and as he passed it, Manny said, “Storage. Here.” The next was open, and Rath followed him inside. A tingle of magic skittered over his skin as he crossed the threshold, and he turned to see what it was. Nothing was visible.
The wizard had slid his arms into the opposite sleeves as if to discourage himself from touching anything in the room. Or making sure weapons are at his fingertips. He sounded more serious than he had before and nodded toward the doorway. “It’s an arcane item that vibrates when it senses magic. I wear a bracelet that is attuned to it, so I know when active powers pass through.” He pulled one hand out and held his wrist up to show a chunky band that looked like ivory around it. “You are not technically ac
tively magical, even though you clearly are.” He smiled, and Rath’s worries fled.
Manny turned toward the far side of the room, momentarily silhouetted in the windows and the door that faced onto the second-floor balcony. There was a trio of display cases there, each heavy wood and metal with thick sheets of something transparent that probably wasn’t glass on the inclined top. Rath jumped on a nearby chair for a better look. The man gestured into the container closest to the window. “Wands that have wound up with me in one fashion or another.”
The troll hopped onto the case itself and looked down. Red velvety fabric held more than a dozen slender rods crafted of different woods and in a variety of shapes. “Where from?”
He shrugged. “Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. I seem to have a gift for finding things that are lost or hidden. They have come to me in any number of ways.” Rath frowned, and the man seemed to read it as doubt. “Truly. I have a knack, I guess you could say. I walk down the street, and I have a feeling. When I follow it, I generally find something interesting.”
Rath considered that. “Useful against bad guys.”
“At times.” He gestured at the next case. “Speaking of which, here are some random weapons I’ve found.” The troll did a flip over to it, landed in perfect balance, and drew an appreciative laugh. Inside were knives, an object that looked like brass knuckles, a tiny club, and a set of wide silver rings. He pointed at them. “Jewelry?”
The man chuckled. “You have a good eye, my friend. Those are eight pieces of a ten-piece collection, I believe. I lack the left pinky and the right thumb.” He raised his hands to demonstrate and waggled the fingers in question. “From the outside, they look normal. The inner part is covered completely with etched symbols in a language none of us have identified. They’re the only things in the case not for sale. I need to complete the set. It’s my main goal before I shuffle off into whatever existence lies beyond this one.” The troll looked sharply at him, and Manny shook his head. “No, I’m not in particular danger of dying imminently, at least no more than anyone else. I’ve merely been at it a long time. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the missing parts don’t want to be found.”
“Is possible?”
He shrugged. “Magic items tend to have a mind of their own, as it were. Even the ones that don’t actually have a mind.” He wandered over to the last case and stared into it with a sigh. “This piece is also not for sale.” Rath vaulted over again and looked down, but saw nothing. The man whispered an incantation and a large bracelet shaped like a lizard appeared, designed so its tail would sit at a person’s wrist and the head would rest high on their forearm. “It’s a Rhazdon artifact. And, yes, before you say anything, I’m aware that I shouldn’t have it. No one should. But as with the Griffins before, it’s my responsibility to keep it out of the wrong hands. So it sits here, hidden and unable to cause trouble. Although I do hear it whisper to me every time I come up here. It makes terrible promises.”
Rath jumped down. “Keep safe. Keep away.”
The man nodded and cast the spell to obscure the object again. A clamor erupted downstairs as the front door slammed and a woman’s voice yelled, “Emmanuel, get your butt down here.” They both broke into matching grins and hurried down to where Professor Charlotte, who looked cross in her skirt and sweater combo, stood with her arms folded. Max had arrived first and leaned against her leg to regard her with fond eyes.
She gave a thin smile when she saw the troll and absently stroked the Borzoi’s head. “Rath, it’s good to see you again. It’s perhaps even fortuitous timing.” She turned her gaze onto the man. “Silas texted us all a while ago. You didn’t respond, so I came to check on you since I was already nearby.”
Manny clapped a hand to his forehead. “I’m an idiot. I don’t actually have my phone with me, now that I think of it.”
Charlotte released a long sigh. “You’re getting old fast, my friend. First your phone, next your wand, and finally, your clothes or something. Then, they’ll lock you up.” She gave Rath a quick smile to let him know she was kidding. “In any case, he’s heard the same message we all have, and from even more people. All signs point to a significant event happening soon.”
Rath nodded. “Pirate Prince. On it.”
She shook her head. “No. Something big. There’s a buzz. Something on a scale we’ve never seen is on the way, and we have zero idea what it is.”
The troll looked from one pair of wide eyes to the other, then at the Borzoi. “Must get home and sleep. Looks like patrol tonight.”
The dog’s bark of confirmation sounded worried. Yeah, Maxie, me too. I feel a great disturbance in the force. Professor Charlotte held the door as he and Max headed out. Fortunately, BAM agents are excellent jedis.
Chapter Thirteen
Diana crouched in the darkness of the closed liquor store and waited for the action to begin. She nudged Rath, who stood beside her, their eyes more or less on the same level. She layered a Spanish accent. “I hate waiting.”
He grinned. “Get used to disappointment.”
They laughed together, loudly enough that Anik hissed at them from the other aisle. “Quiet, you two. I’m trying to be professional over here.”
Kayleigh had routed the various drone feeds into their glasses. The prince’s gang had raided the store Alfred had predicted would be first—points to the AI—and was inbound toward their location. The tech had summoned the fire department immediately, and the blaze was under control and would not spread beyond the targeted building. That’s something, anyway.
“Croft, status?”
Cara’s mic picked up the wind from outside. “No sign yet. I’m ready to do the Batman thing.” After their harness deployment from the helicopter, the team had realized that the concept had many other applications. As the most gymnastic ARES agent other than Rath, Cara was the obvious choice to rig a bungee jump from the roof of the building that would allow her to leap safely down the three stories and land on the street among or behind the attackers, depending on how far she flew. She’d have to detach the cord at the right moment, but they’d practiced the move at a local trampoline funhouse and Cara had it down pat.
“Acknowledged. Stark?”
Tony replied, “Hiding in the shadows like some sort of common criminal as ordered, boss.” The channel filled with quiet laughter at the remark. He was posted across the road in an alley and had already complained endlessly about the smells involved with the position.
“It suits you,” Cara quipped.
He snorted. “Not everyone is expendable enough to be risked on a three-story jump. Show-off. On your best day, you’re not half as good as Rath—er, Rambo.” The troll had chosen his own callsign, and the team was still getting used to it, and to saying it without cracking up.
More laughter followed until Kayleigh’s voice interrupted the moment. “You have thirty seconds, tops, before they get there. At the last place, they smashed the front windows, cut through the security grate with a torch, and looted it fast. Five minutes in and out. There is a large group of them with three trucks this time.”
Diana repositioned her hands on the stun rifle and made sure her grip was secure. “Roger.” She focused on the drone feeds in her glasses for a moment and decided only one was really useful. “Friday, keep the center feed and lose the other two.”
The AI sounded its confirmation tone and the extra windows disappeared. “Glam, roll the fire department when things kick off and the police as soon as you think it’s safe to do so.” Ideally, they’d require neither support, but it was always better to have and not need than the other way around.
Kayleigh replied, “Affirmative. Enemy arriving now.” Another window opened in her glasses to reveal the camera of the drone that hovered high over the scene. As the tech predicted, three large trucks pulled into the deserted street in front of the building. They looked freshly painted in bright yellow. Hopefully, it cost them a pretty penny to replace the ones we captured last time. S
he snorted to herself. Most likely, they stole these too.
As they piled out of the vehicles and took position before the windows, Tony observed, “At least there’s no back for them to rush out of. Idiots.”
Rath laughed. “Stark. Must train more. Run with me and MadMax.”
“Oh, hell no, uh, Rambo. This body is made for lov…dating, not running.”
Banter time ended as the gang members launched their attack. They fired a spray of bullets at the windows, angled upward to avoid breaking bottles. The barrier, which had been extremely thick glass, shattered instantly. Those are probably armor-piercing rounds. Criminals don’t have to follow rules. I’m glad there’s no one above us. A man stepped forward with a large blowtorch and cut away the metal where the windows had been, while another worked on the grate in front of the door. Her finger twitched with the desire to fire a bullet into the torches’ fuel source and end the matter right then.
Anik spoke quietly. “One shot, boss, and boom. Party over. Okay, two, one for each torch. Say the word.”
She put an authoritative tone in her voice as if she hadn’t desired the same thing. “No, they haven’t killed anyone, so we stay nonlethal until it’s absolutely necessary not to.” Thus the stun rifles and the hollow-point ammunition in their weapons that was the least likely to cause random damage from ricochets. The bars fell away, and the first looters entered the store.
“Party time, people. Go.” She kicked it off by stepping around the end cap she’d sheltered behind and fired at the foremost looter, a woman in a bright red blouse and leather pants, with her stun rifle. Her mind flitted back to the raid on the warehouse where they’d first met the pirate’s crew. What the hell? Maybe the apparent eye candy wasn’t eye candy at all. Her target collapsed in a heap and Diana dropped and rolled out of the way of a blast of ice darts that sped toward her as soon as the path was clear for them. They shattered vodka bottles on the rear wall, and the liquor spread onto the tile floor, making movement treacherous.
