“Monty is not going dark.”
“You can’t guarantee that,” she said, her voice low. “Not unless…”
“If he does, I’ll make sure he can’t hurt anyone, starting with himself.”
“He’ll kill you,” Jessikah said. “You don’t know the potential power you’re facing. Are you insane?” She looked at Erik. “Tell him how dangerous this is.”
“She doesn’t know,” I said under my breath to Erik. “She assumes I’m just weird, some kind of mutant…probably like Wolverine.”
“Strong…don’t,” Erik warned. “This is serious. She doesn’t know about your curse?”
“We never got around to discussing it?”
“Curse? What curse?” Jessikah asked, glancing in my direction. “Should I be taking precautionary measures? How are you cursed?”
“You are incredible,” Erik reprimanded me. “How could you not tell her?”
“We didn’t meet under the best of circumstances,” I shot back. “She’s Black Orchid, and they are currently trying to kill Monty. You know, the Monty that’s my friend?”
“They know about the schism,” Erik said. “And you didn’t tell her?”
“What did you want me to say?” I asked, getting angry. “She literally appeared in the Moscow, past our defenses. How did you want the intros to go? ‘Hey, nice to meet you, I’m Simon, I hear you and your buddies want to kill my friend and partner, by the way…not happening. Also, I’ve been cursed alive by Kali?’ Seems a bit awkward, don’t you think?”
“You do have a point,” Erik said, shaking his head. “Apologies.”
“Given the circumstances, I wasn’t feeling especially warm and open. I didn’t know who she was, and then things kind of…took off. Dex, LD, and TK appeared, and I never got around to explaining things like my curse.”
“Why are you cursed?” Jessikah asked. “More importantly: who cursed you?”
“Same person you doubt ever paid me a visit: Kali.”
“She cursed you, and then you claim she helped you? Are you ill?”
“See?” I said, looking at Erik. “Easy to explain, right?”
Erik nodded and held up a hand.
“Are you trying to kill Tristan?” Erik asked, looking at Jessikah. “Yes or no?”
“No,” Jessikah said. “My priorities shifted once I realized I was being sent to my death.”
“Your priority shift notwithstanding, I want you to understand what you will be facing if this is a deception on your part,” Erik said. “Please look at Strong. Use your true-sight.”
“My what?” Jessikah asked. “Are you referring to my farsight?”
“She’s a little new,” I said. “He means that squinty thing you mages do, when you shift your focus and see past the veil of things to the ‘real world.’”
“I don’t do a ‘squinty’ thing. My eyes are in perfect working condition,” she answered. “I haven’t been adequately trained in true-sight. The Farsight training came first, and then was interrupted when I was tasked with apprehending Tristan.”
Erik just stared at Jessikah for a few seconds.
“Apprehending Tristan seems to be code for ‘extermination’ in the Black Orchid,” I said. “I think she pissed off the wrong people. I should know, I’m an expert at it.”
“Indeed you are,” Erik said. “That explains much. Can you see a basic unveiling?”
“Yes,” Jessikah answered with a nod. “I can see up to an intermediate unveiling.”
“That will work,” Erik said, pointing at me. “Please focus on Strong.”
Jessikah turned, focusing on me for a few seconds and then let her gaze go soft. She was looking in my direction, but it appeared as though she was looking past me, to some fixed point in the distance.
“I have him in my sight,” she said. “Please begin.”
“We’ll stick to a basic unveiling,” Erik said. “I don’t know how extensive your training is, and this should suffice to reveal what you need to know.”
“I’m ready,” she answered, “though I don’t understand the point to this. What do you expect me to see? It’s not like he’s a mage. Outside of some aberrant energy signature, he doesn’t possess much of a threat. Honestly, this is all a waste of…”
Erik gestured next to me, and for a few seconds she held that thousand-mile stare. It slowly shifted as Jessikah’s eyes opened wide before she looked away in shock.
“Are you okay?” Erik asked, holding onto Jessikah’s arm to steady her. “Did you see?”
“That was a basic unveiling?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly. “How is he still alive? Pardon me”—she looked in my direction—“how are you alive?”
“That is his curse,” Erik said, letting his voice become hard. “It makes Strong very difficult to exterminate. That curse, along with his hellhound, and the fact that he has worked some of the most dangerous cases alongside a mage, make him resilient enough to deal with most threats—mages included. I will ask you one more time. Do you intend Tristan harm?”
Jessikah was unsettled.
It could’ve been my imagination, or the fact that she took several small steps away from me and refused to look in my direction. Maybe it was the micro-tremors in her hands as she smoothed out her hair that made me feel like I had just contracted a major case of cooties.
Whatever she had seen had unnerved her, which I think was Erik’s intention all along. Not being a mage, I had no way to determine what exactly she saw, or what Erik allowed her to see regarding my signature and curse.
Kali words came to mind: you will bear my mark and be feared.
“My priority is survival outside of the Black Orchid now,” she said once she managed to get herself under control. “Tristan Montague outclasses my ability, and evidently”—she glanced my way—“has powerful friends who would make me regret any decision to bring harm upon him.”
“That sounds accurate,” I said. “If we get past this, we’ll help you get resettled here. It’s less murdery for Black Orchid rookie agents.”
“Do you understand now why Kali would visit Strong?” Erik asked.
“I have some understanding, yes,” Jessikah said. “It would seem this is a case of not judging the book by the cover. I have to confess, I still find it odd she would visit him. Why not one of the Arch Mages?”
“If you ever get the chance, perhaps you can ask her,” Erik said. “I’m sure she’d love to explain her reasoning to you.”
“Are you saying it’s not my charming personality?” I asked, looking down at my body. “I’m practically irresistible. By the way, Erik, clothes?”
“Oh yes, right,” he said, waving a hand. “Apologies, I was thinking about the ramifications of this.”
My clothes reappeared instantly.
“My irresistible allure? I get all sorts of unsolicited attention—most of it unwanted, all of it dangerous.”
“Stop spouting nonsense,” Erik said. “You know Director Nakatomi would skewer any female who got too close to you.”
“Excuse me?” Jessikah asked, suddenly even more concerned. “Am I in danger?”
“Only if your intentions toward Strong are anything other than professional.”
“My intentions are strictly professional,” she said, raising a hand with a mild look of disgust. It was the expression you wore when you discovered your milk was now a chunky semi-liquid, as the rancid odor punched you in the nose. “No offense meant.”
“Some taken,” I said, turning to Erik. “What do you mean? What ramifications?”
“I wasn’t able to reach Dex,” Erik answered. “It seems he is avoiding any organized group at the moment.”
“That would make sense,” I said, looking at Jessikah. “The Black Orchid threatened him and the Golden Circle if he interfered with their mission.”
“Talin alluded to the destruction of the Golden Circle as well,” Jessikah said. “It would makes sense that Dexter has gone into hiding.”
&
nbsp; “You don’t know Dex too well,” I said. “He’s not big on hiding. He leans closer to the ‘raze everything to the ground’ method of doing things.”
“I did manage to contact LD,” Erik said. “He’ll be here shortly. Also, Cecil left your automotive atrocity outside. Make sure you take it with you when you leave, or it’ll scare away everyone.”
“The Dark Goat is not an atrocity…she’s a work of art. An artrocity, if you will.”
“If that art was designed to maim and kill, then yes, it’s art. Right up there with the Night Warden’s abomination. What was Cecil thinking?”
“Cecil is a man with a plan,” I said. “How soon before LD gets here?”
“Why?”
“Is this the strongest null room you have in the club?”
“Why?” Erik asked again, with an undertone of urgency. “I just had the lower floors redone, Strong. It cost a fortune and shut us down for weeks.”
“Yes or no?” I asked. “I need to test something.”
“No,” Erik said. “Whatever it is…no. Test it elsewhere.”
“It should be safe,” I said. “You yourself said Kali set me straight; my bonds are untangled.”
“I also said she set you right in the scariest way possible,” Erik replied. “We don’t know how your body will react to this change in your signature.”
“I’m pretty sure it’ll be fine,” I said, moving my tenderized body around slowly. “I’m still sore, but I don’t intend to unleash any Club-destroying energy.”
“Oh, forgive me, Mage Strong,” Erik answered, heavy on the sarcasm. “I hadn’t realized you graduated top of the class in energy manipulation from Imaginary U.”
“I’m just going to materialize Ebonsoul,” I answered with a glare. “Should cause no destruction and minimal energy expenditure.”
“Those sounds like famous last words,” Erik answered with a sigh. “If you sense anything is amiss, you stop, understood?”
“Understood,” I said with a nod. “You may want to give me some privacy for this…just in case.”
“Just in case of what?”
“Nothing, nothing,” I said, quickly raising a hand. “I just prefer doing this alone, in case it doesn’t work.”
“Your hellhound stays here,” Erik answered, glancing at Peaches. “You need to get him some training.”
“We tried that,” I said. “It didn’t go so well.”
“Try it again. He gently mangled through one of my chairs. A Gehry Power Play. It has been reduced to abstract art. I expect it to be replaced.”
“I’ll add it to my to-do list, right after facing homicidal mages and walking Monty back from the brink of darkness.”
Erik shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“You do your test in here,” Erik said, adding some curses under his breath. “I swear, Strong, if you destroy this room, I’m holding you personally responsible.”
“What else is new?”
“LD will be here inside the hour,” Erik said. “Conduct your test when he arrives…not before. At least that way he can prevent any major destruction.”
“Got it, and thank you…for everything.”
“Thank me by leaving the club the same way you found it: intact,” he snapped. “Let’s go, Miss Orchid. You have some things to learn while Strong is trying his ‘test.’ Some of it may actually be beneficial.”
Erik, Jessikah, and the Harlequins stepped out of the room, leaving me alone with my hellhound.
TWENTY-TWO
“You chewed one of his chairs?” I said, looking down at my sheepish hellhound. “Why?”
“How much of it was left when you were done?”
“I’m okay now, but that is…was a very expensive chair,” I said, holding back a small laugh and keeping a straight face. “I’m sure he was upset.”
“It’s not that simple,” I said. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll get him another one of his froufrou chairs. Right after we help Monty.”
A gray circle of energy formed on the floor next to us. I made sure we moved out of the way. It increased in intensity until I had to look away. When I could see again, LD stood in the null room. It spoke to the level of his power that he could teleport into a room designed to negate all runic energy.
“Hola, hombre,” LD said, giving me the once-over as he stepped out of the circle. “You look like you’ve been playing in traffic and lost…a few times. What happened?”
“Kali.”
“Where’s Farsight?” LD asked, looking around. “I keyed into your location. Why are we in a dungeon?”
“Jessikah is with Erik,” I said. “I needed someplace safe to put this thing on.”
I showed him the ring.
“So, when are you planning the trip to Mordor?” he asked with a grin.
“Oh, ha, ha,” I said with a grimace. “This thing hurt like hell…worse than hell.”
“How many uses does it have?”
“Three,” I said. “Which would mean something if I knew how to use it.”
“You’d better learn quick,” he said, serious. “Things are developing quickly, and you don’t have the luxury of the extended training version. This is more like the crash course—emphasis on crash.”
“Kali said as much. I need to learn how to use several things, and I have no idea how to do that, except to think differently about energy.”
“That makes sense,” he said with a nod. “I have bad news and worse news. What do you want first?”
“Bad news,” I said. “I’ll ease into the worse, considering how my day is going.”
“Bad news is: we don’t know Evers’ location,” LD said, his voice grim. “TK is tailing Talin, hoping he will lead us to her, but Evers is a skilled masker.”
“Talin survived Grey?” I asked, surprised. “It didn’t look good the last time I saw him. He was buried under a mountain of rubble that used to be a wall.”
“When did you see him last?”
I explained what happened at The Dive with Grey and his psycho-sword.
“Talin survived,” LD said, “barely. For a few moments, TK considered dusting him, but we need him to locate Evers. She’s the real threat.”
“How did he survive against Scary Grey and his sword?” I asked, confused. “Grey had a serious energy signature when I saw him last.”
LD nodded.
“Izanami is a goddess,” LD said. “Unlike, say, Kali, she is not in corporeal form, so her power is limited to the wielder of the weapon. Grey is pretty banged up from his last mission with your vampire.”
“So I heard,” I said. “They were busy redecorating the park at City Hall.”
“In true Montague and Strong fashion, too. Big crater where the park once was. You’d be proud at the amount of destruction and devastation.”
“You do realize I’m not the destructive part of the Duo of Destruction, right?”
“Sorry, hombre, guilt by association. Besides, from the looks of things”—he narrowed his eyes at me—“it seems like you’ve untangled that mess you had in there…and upgraded? How did that happen?”
“Kali did something with Monty’s enso pendant shieldbearer thing,” I said. “She took it from being a pendant and shoved it into my chest. It’s like Ebonsoul, floating around in there somewhere, except it feels permanent.” I tapped my chest lightly. “Solid inside. At this rate, I’m going to be a rare artifact warehouse.”
“Well, if you were a target before, now you’re a blazing beacon. No way you can hide now. Whatever she did is…whoa, off the charts intricate.”
“So
Grey was too wiped out to stop Talin?” I asked. “He had mentioned the whole City Hall thing.”
“That’s how Talin managed to escape,” LD answered. “Grey wasn’t at one hundred. That gave Talin the opportunity to retreat once he realized he was outclassed.”
“And now he has TK tailing him?” I asked. “I think I’d prefer Ezra to TK after me.”
“Agreed,” LD said, “she has to be subtle. Talin has skill, but TK is an accomplished tracker. He won’t escape her. Sooner or later he will lead her to Evers.”
“This is like the ultimate game of hide-and-seek.”
“Sure, where the loser dies,” LD answered. “We need to find Evers soon, before she unleashes her revenge on Tristan.”
“Not knowing where Evers is, is bad. What’s worse?”
“There are varying degrees of worse. Ready?”
“Why would I expect it to be any other way?” I said, mostly to myself. “Go for it.”
“Monty’s schism has put him on a sect-wide blacklist. If we don’t stop him, some heavy-hitters will be coming for him, not just the Black Orchid.”
“That sounds worse. Can’t we just email them, or something, that we have it under control?”
“Normally, the Black Orchid being on the case would calm the other sects down, but Dex managed to Dex the situation,” LD said with a dark smile. “He removed the Golden Circle from all the sects.”
“He did what?” I asked. “Erik said he moved the Golden Circle, but this sounds…deeper. Is he really powerful enough to move the entire Golden Circle?”
“You’ve experienced the Living Library and Moving Market, right?” LD asked. “Open a door and discover an entire world behind it, kind of thing?”
“Yes,” I said with a small shudder. “Each time it was unnerving. Those places are immense and mobile. He has a room at our place…not really a room, but a world.”
“Same principle, except Dex is a Master Teleporter,” LD replied. “I’ve never seen a mage weaponize teleportation circles like he does, and I know some skilled mages.”
“So, he basically ‘poofed’ the Golden Circle away?”
“The runic theories driving the Moving Market, the Living Library, and even Fordey, were perfected by Dexter first,” LD said, letting the words sink in. “He is an old, powerful mage. In the area of teleportation, Ziller studies Dex.”
Walking The Razor: A Montague & Strong Detective Novel Page 15
