by K M Martinez
Sometimes it’s a singular moment you share with someone that breaks down your walls. Siva taking his hand and letting him share in that private moment was one of those times.
Now, Gabe wrapped his arms around her. “How’d you sleep?”
Siva sighed into his chest and gave him a squeeze before pulling away. “Not well.”
Gabe could see the weariness in her face. “Let’s get something to eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
This wasn’t the first time Siva had declined. Gabe kept trying to get her to eat, and she shot him down every time. He decided to try a different tactic.
“I know,” he said. “I’m not hungry either—I’m really worried about Mel and Charlotte—but if you try to eat something, I’ll try to eat something too.”
It was the truth; it wasn’t like he was lying to her. It was just something he normally wouldn’t tell someone.
She looked at him earnestly, and he smiled, then kissed the hand he held. She had a pretty little hand that felt nice in his.
“All right,” she said, her eyes a little brighter.
“All right,” Gabe said, and pulled her toward the breakfast line.
The line was noticeably shorter now that all the guests had left. That included Jonah… although no one actually knew where he had gone. He had left without a word to anyone, leaving all his belongings in his tent. Tío Luce thought something wasn’t right, but Gabe didn’t think it was weird at all. When you gotta run, you gotta run. Jonah was weak, and he’d been open with his opinion that the descendants were a cult, so it only made sense that he would run. It was better for all of them that he did. He was probably in west Texas by now.
Gabe and Siva ate in companionable silence. It was early enough in the day that they had some privacy.
“How’s your father doing?” he asked.
Siva glanced up at him, then back down at her scrambled eggs and bacon. “Sad and angry. His anger is moving him to action. Last night I overheard him talking to a few Jansos. He’s decided to make a move for Sapienti of the clan. He cares nothing for the responsibility, but he wants to have a voice when the people responsible are discovered. He’ll settle for nothing less than their lives.”
“Are you going to tell him—”
“No,” Siva said firmly.
Gabe bit his lip. His need to know why Siva wasn’t going to tell her father what happened was warring with his desire to be a sensitive, supportive boyfriend.
Boyfriend? Where did that come from? He knew he and Siva were not in a relationship yet. Yet? What the hell am I thinking?
“It might help if he knew,” Gabe said carefully.
“Might help who, Gabe? Because let me tell you,” she whispered fiercely, “it’s not helping me. Demons and death and blood… men and women being gored to death. Eaten.”
Her eyes filled with tears that would not fall. Gabe pulled her close and held her tight.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“It’s okay.”
“I just can’t get those images out of my head. I can’t wrap my head around them.”
“I know,” he said, kissing the top of her head. And he did know. He’d lost quite a bit of sleep himself thinking about the horror of it all. He couldn’t imagine how Mel and Charlotte had lived through it, though he believed that they had. But they might have died elsewhere. That thought also made him lose sleep.
Andrew Wiley, who had to be one of the best trackers Gabe had ever seen, had followed a trail that led to dead Malum a couple miles from the clearing, surrounded by lots of blood. Andrew had laid out what had happened: Two descendants had run away from the clearing, with two Malum giving chase. It looked like one of the descendants had tumbled down a steep hill, killing one Malum. The second Malum had run off injured, only to die of its wounds a short distance away. But the curious thing was that there was only one set of human tracks leading away from the site. One descendant had returned to the clearing; the other was unaccounted for.
Gabe pulled away from Siva. “Come on, let’s go for a run,” he said.
****
A running trail circled the property, and they started off on the side that ran within the trees; it was more scenic than the area by the road. For a while, Gabe set a slow pace, and Siva jogged slowly at his side. But when his feet met the gravel of the road, he dug in. Siva kept up with him easily, as he knew she would. They continued like that for a few minutes, across a small stream and through a garden. When they came to a scenic bridge, Gabe slowed so Siva could get a good look at the trees in full bloom with pink and purple flowers. The stream was slow and peaceful, the running water whispering on the rock.
“Very beautiful,” Siva said.
“That’s my Tía Alice. She loves to landscape.”
Before he knew it, they were rounding the turn that led back to the house. But they slowed when they saw the Uvalde County Sheriff SUVs parked out front.
Three men walked out of the house. One wore a suit, another had on a sheriff’s polo shirt and khakis, and the third man Gabe recognized as Sheriff Sam Cosby. They got into their cars, and the first two men drove off, but Gabe and Siva caught Sheriff Cosby before he could do the same.
“Hey, sheriff,” Gabe said.
The sheriff rolled down his window. “Hey, Gabe. Had a chance to talk to your Tío Luce or grandmother today?”
Gabe looked into Sheriff Cosby’s wrinkled tan face and his alert, steel-blue eyes. The gray in his hair was even more pronounced in his thick beard. As usual, he was chewing tobacco, his only vice. He had a Longhorns cup on his dash that he grabbed and spit into. Sam Cosby was a diehard Aggies fan.
“No, sir. What’s going on?”
“Someone reported that some clanspeople were missing.”
“What?”
Who could have called the cops? Gabe thought. The guests didn’t even know; they had been sent home on the pretext that the authorities had said there were too many people congregated in one area. They’d even sent a few descendants home to make the pretext more believable.
“You’re surprised?” Sheriff Cosby said, grabbing that Longhorns cup and spitting once more. “I was too. I thought you guys were all united and shit.”
Gabe grimaced. That was so far from the truth.
“Do you know who reported it?” Gabe asked.
“I don’t know—they called Jared Sinclair personally, he was the one in the suit. You see him?”
“Yeah.”
“Now his partner, Buddy Johnson, he’s a good ol’ boy. The less work the better for him. But Sinclair… that guy is an asshole, but a damn good cop. And unfortunately, he’s got it in his head that there’s been wrongdoing here. He thinks you guys run some kind of cult.” Sheriff Cosby spit in his cup again. “He probably also didn’t appreciate your grandma telling him what’s what in there. So now the fire’s been lit, and he won’t give up until he finds out what’s going on.”
“What did my grandma say?”
“Well, for the most part, she let those other buzzards talk, but when Sinclair brought up your cousin Charlotte, she spoke up. She wanted to know how Sinclair knew about her.”
“He knew about Charlotte? Did he know about Mel?”
“Yeah,” Sinclair said, those steel-blue eyes watching Gabe. “I wasn’t able to say it in there because I had those two goons with me, but the person who called it in said that Mel was involved in Charlotte’s disappearance. She’s a person of interest as far as Sinclair is concerned. Your grandmother picked up on that right away and damn near killed Sinclair with her words.”
Gabe frowned, and anger bloomed in his chest. “Did this person give any other names?”
“Nope, but your grandmother being unable to produce either Charlotte or Mel sure did get Sinclair’s gears a-spinnin’.”
“This is all circumstantial, sheriff. Why are they coming at us so hard?”
“That, I don’t know,” Sheriff Cosby said. “But I’m going to find out for you
, and I’m going to fix it for you if I can from my end. In the meantime, I need some assurances from you. You know that my family has been a friend of Clan Kale forever.” Sheriff Cosby spit in his Longhorn cup again. “But I gotta make this look real for those investigators. Get me?”
Gabe nodded.
“Now, I have a feeling things are getting bad for you guys. The tension in that house was thick enough to lead me to that belief, so I’m telling you—and you tell your brother too—that I don’t want any innocents buried in that garden. Get me?”
Gabe made a face.
“Oh, no. Don’t you make that face at me. I ain’t as dumb as I look. There’s gonna be fightin’ between those clans soon, and you keep innocents out of it. That includes those investigator boys. They’re just doin’ their jobs.”
“Sheriff, it won’t get to that point.”
“Like hell it won’t! I wasn’t born yesterday—I know something’s wrong, boy! And I know it all has to do with that sister of yours. Now don’t bite my head off! You know I think she’s as good as they come, but people that good got people that wanna bring ’em down. Now tell your grandmother what I said today, okay?”
“Sure, sheriff,” Gabe said, a lot harder than he meant. “Thanks.”
“And let your grandmother know that those two investigators are going to be looking for Mel and Charlotte. We just got lucky they had to split so fast because of a missing person spotted up in Dabney.”
“Where did my grandmother say Mel and Charlotte were?”
“Out camping with a few others, off-grid like.”
With that, Sheriff Cosby sped off toward town, and Gabe and Siva ran to the house.
They found the Sapientis in a heated discussion. Grandma Mari was standing quietly off to one side, but the other Sapientis were angry. Everyone seemed to be upset about the investigators.
“Grandma, I need to speak with you,” Gabe said quietly.
“Later, Gabe, I’m in the middle of something.”
“I just saw Sheriff Cosby.”
Grandma Mari’s eyes cleared with realization.
Sapienti Kelser looked at the two of them angrily. “Mari, do you have an opinion on this matter, or is talking to your grandson more important?”
“I’ll find you later, Gabe,” Grandma Mari said quietly. Then to Sapienti Kelser: “Oh, I have an opinion, Rudolph. Do you really think that anyone other than a descendant made that call? What other proof do you need that the Eighth Clan exists?”
“Please! It was one of those goddamn guests! My clan has insisted for decades that there should be no outsiders allowed at the Agora.”
Gabe and Siva left them to their arguments. Gabe could tell that his grandmother would get nowhere with Rudolph Kelser. He felt like he wasn’t getting anywhere either. He was tired of standing still, waiting. He’d always been the guy to go after what he wanted—and at the moment he wanted answers.
As they walked back to the camp, thunder crashed, loud and sudden, and the skies opened. They were soaked in seconds. To Gabe, it was a sign.
He stopped and squeezed Siva’s hand. “It’s time we do something.”
Chapter Eighteen
Victor sat behind a desk in the library, flexing his hand. He could now make a fist with only a small twinge of pain. He had no idea how his hand had healed so quickly, but he was glad. One less thing.
He was waiting for Andrew Wiley. Before now, Drew wasn’t someone Victor had ever paid much notice to. The guy had never been chosen to represent Clan Kale in the games, and perhaps it was that which more or less erased him from Victor’s world altogether. But now Victor had learned that Drew was quite useful to have around. He was trustworthy, very good at keeping his mouth shut, and wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.
The door opened, and Drew, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, walked in with his sister, Thrash, and Alec Paul. Paul was a tall man, with a heavy build, black hair, and blue eyes. He was also a “basket baby” and didn’t learn The Ways until his late teens. Now a fresh Journeyman, he hadn’t been chosen to represent Clan Kale this year. Victor tried not to judge him on that—there were only so many positions to be filled, and many capable Kales never made the cut. Still, his presence was a surprise.
Victor raised an eyebrow at Drew. Drew just shrugged, plopped down in a chair, and dropped a duffel bag at his feet.
Victor shifted his questioning gaze to Justine Wiley.
“Don’t look at me,” she said, raising her hands.
“All right then,” Victor said, turning toward Thrash.
“I trust Alec,” Thrash said. “And we need more people in on this.”
Victor held Thrash’s gaze for a long while before relenting. “Well, if you trust him, that’s good enough for me.”
Thrash let out a breath. “So why’d you call us here, and why didn’t you get Gabe to join?”
“Gabe left this morning before I could tell him.”
Gabe had been spending a lot more time with Siva the past few days. The two seemed to be leaning on each other heavily for support. Victor understood. He wished his wife were here; he could use some support himself. What he wouldn’t give to have her arms wrapped around him, or to see his kids…
“I want to investigate the secret rooms Grandma Mari showed us,” he said. “I think it would be prudent to see if we have something that can penetrate the skin of the Malum.”
“That’s a good idea,” Thrash said. “But how will we know what to look for?”
“Drew?”
Drew opened his duffel bag and pulled out a severed Malum leg. Everyone but Victor withdrew in revulsion.
“What the fuck,” Justine said. “You’ve been carrying that thing all morning? You’re telling me I ate breakfast with a goddamn demonic severed leg sitting two feet from me? Geez, Drew. I asked you what that goddamn smell was, and you were like, ‘someone farted.’ You asshole.”
Drew shrugged and put the leg back in the bag. The smell remained.
“I believe Mel and Charlotte are alive,” Victor said. “I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and they didn’t just survive that Malum attack, they fought back and killed. My sword doesn’t penetrate Malum skin, but Mel and Charlotte must have had a weapon that did. The dead Malum are proof.”
He opened a satchel and pulled out several flashlights, which he passed out. “We’re going down there, we’re going to find anything that looks like a weapon, and we’re going to test it on this limb.”
He pulled aside the bookcase that exposed the secret door to the world below. It was of reinforced metal, heavy and gray—meant to keep things in as well as out. He opened the door, grabbed his flashlight, shouldered Drew’s duffel, and stepped through into the darkness.
“Drew, how did you manage to steal that limb?” Justine asked from behind him.
Drew mumbled something noncommittal.
“Well, if you would be so kind, next time you’re in a sneaky mood, steal my phone for me. I’m having Facebook withdrawal.”
Victor led them to the room he’d first followed his grandmother to. He twisted the sun as his grandmother had done, and the stairway appeared in the floor.
“That is awesome,” said Justine. “I had no idea this was here.”
They went down the stairs to the high-ceilinged chamber with the seven clans depicted on the walls and alcoves. Justine and Drew ran their flashlight beams over every inch of stone.
“Come on, we’re not there yet,” Victor said.
They went out the other side of the chamber and down the long hallway. This time Victor counted the doors. There were nineteen in all: nine on each side plus the one that led to the Sun Room.
“All right,” Victor said. “Drew, Justine, and Paul, you three take one side of the hall, and Thrash and I will take the other.”
The three nodded their heads and headed off.
“I’ll start with this one,” Thrash said, turning to the nearest door. He turned the knob and found it locked. “Or, mayb
e not.”
Victor tried the knob as well.
“What? You don’t trust me?” Thrash said, annoyed.
“Come on, let’s try the next one.”
The next door was unlocked, and led to a small room whose walls were lined with books. Thrash and Victor took one look around, and moved on.
Unfortunately, the next three rooms were more of the same, and Thrash was getting frustrated. “What’s with all the fucking books?”
The next few rooms didn’t have books… but they also didn’t have anything that could be considered a weapon. They mostly contained antiques and knickknacks: vases, picture frames, figurines.
But the final room looked promising. Iron chests lined the walls, and Victor thought for sure there would be weapons in there. Yet once again they were disappointed: the chests contained nothing but crystals, in all shapes, sizes, and colors.
Thrash picked one up, and it started to glow. Victor slapped the crystal out of his cousin’s hand, grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, and yanked him out of the room.
“You and fucking stones,” Victor said, slamming the door shut. “I’m not having any of that weird shit.”
“What about the Malum limb?” Thrash said. “That’s some weird shit.”
“Just the Malum limb. Nothing else.”
Thrash examined his cousin, who looked run-down. He was just as stressed as Victor was about Charlotte and Mel, and Victor knew he probably needed to let it out—but Victor wasn’t the type to talk about feelings, so he pretended not to notice.
“Let’s go check on the others.”
They walked toward the only room that was burning with light. It was a cluttered mess, with steel chests stacked on top of each other. Justine was on her knees going through one of the chests, and Drew and Paul were examining two closed doors on the far wall.
“Find anything?” Victor asked.
“We found some clothes,” Justine said.
“Clothes? Why are you guys wasting your time looking at clothes?”
“It’s the kind of clothes we found,” Justine said. She held up a black tunic that looked scaly and glossy. “What kind of animal is this?”
