by Steve McHugh
I nodded, but there was little to do about it. “I think this isn’t done by a long shot.” I looked out one of the windows. “I think the assassin’s leader is out there. And I think there’s more to this than just Viktor wanting a bit of revenge.”
“So, you’ve settled on Viktor hiring them?” Sky asked.
“The banshee saw him talking to the assassin’s leader more than once, so yeah, I think Viktor hired them. But I don’t think Viktor was killed by them. I’m going to go talk to Victoria again as I have questions, and then I’m going to find Tommy and figure out what happened with the guardian he went to talk to.”
“And after that?” Sky asked, leaning up against the window I had stared out earlier.
“I think after that, I’m going to hopefully know where this assassin is, and we can put this whole nightmare to bed.”
“Do you know who killed Viktor?”
I shrugged. “Got an idea, but no evidence so I’ll keep it to myself for the moment.”
“I have an idea too,” Sky told me.
“You’re not going to tell me, are you?” I asked her.
“Nope,” Sky said with a smile. “Because I don’t want anyone to hear me, and I don’t want to be wrong.”
I laughed. “Because I’d never let you forget it?”
“Yes, Nate, exactly because of that,” Sky said with a laugh of her own. “This whole thing is a mess, but you know the one thing that bothers me? Viktor didn’t bring a single member of his pride here. I know that he wasn’t allowed to bring anyone, but Viktor didn’t strike me as someone who did as they were told. Why would you not bring anyone from your pride? He’s their leader, and he’s taking his wife with him. I’m sure he felt safe, but would Matthew have come here without some of his people if Tommy hadn’t been here?”
“No,” I said.
“And Viktor must know that he wasn’t the most liked person, he certainly should have known Melody hated him,” Sky said. “Either that or he didn’t care. I just find it odd that he knew he was going somewhere he was at best distrusted, and still agreed to come without backup.”
“It’s his own family,” I said. “Maybe he thought that was enough.”
“He was wrong then,” Sky said.
I nodded. “Be careful.”
“I’m a big girl, Nate,” Sky told me.
“Yeah, but even so, be careful.”
“You too,” Sky said, suddenly serious.
I left the castle via the front door and walked through to the stables where the remnants of Viktor’s blood was being washed away by staff members. They’d had a shitty day, and it probably wasn’t near done yet.
Sorcery was outside the stable with a hand getting her saddled, so I stopped by and fed her a huge apple from the bucket. “Any chance you could tell me what’s going on?” I asked her.
“Sorry, sir, I don’t know,” the young stable-hand said.
“Sorry,” I replied. “Talking to the horse, but thanks for letting me know.”
Sorcery nuzzled my neck and I scratched her behind the ear, while giving her a second apple. She was still saddled, and looked like she was about to go for a ride.
“She just coming back, or just going?” I asked.
“She’s just about to go,” the stable-hand said. “I have to take her out once a day for a good run through the forest. They get really irritated if they don’t get their daily exercise.
“I didn’t mean to keep you from your job,” I said.
I watched the stable-hand lead Sorcery toward the gates to the village as a commotion further in the village caught my attention.
A figure was running toward the bridge where Sorcery was being led. The man moved fast—faster than few people I’d ever seen—almost a blur of motion. They passed me and a second later a large wolf ran toward me too, chasing the fleeing figure.
“Tommy?” I asked.
He snorted and continued on, barely stopping for a moment.
I ran after him, considerably slower than a werewolf was able to run, and used my air magic to jump up, placing my hands on Sorcery’s flank and vaulting into her saddle.
“Sorry, but I need to borrow her,” I told the stable-hand, who passed me the reins.
“Let’s go do some cowboy shit,” I said to Sorcery, and we chased after Tommy and his prey.
Chapter Nine
Even with Sorcery’s incredible speed, we were still some distance behind Tommy and whoever he was chasing. I’d wrapped myself in a shield of air, which deflected any branches that got a little too close for comfort. It seemed that however fast Sorcery had run the first time we’d made the journey, apparently she’d been really holding back.
The sounds of the wind whipping by me blocked out the battle into which Sorcery charged. I created a lasso of air, flicked it out toward the man as he dove toward Tommy, a silver dagger in each hand.
The lasso caught around the man’s ankle and I yanked back, throwing him across the clearing. He threw a knife at me and I launched myself off Sorcery and blasted the man with a bolt of lightning that sent him sprawling across the clearing where three murders had taken place only a short time ago. Tommy had been wise enough to launch himself into the tree line as the lightning had hit, avoiding any splash damage.
“Tommy,” I called out, and a large dark wolf padded out of the forest beside me.
“Took you long enough,” he said with a chuckle.
“You’re one of the guardians,” I said to the man as he got to his feet. “Didn’t know you could move that fast.”
“We all have our gifts,” he said.
“You want to tell us why you’re working with assassins?” I asked him.
“They paid me,” he said without any remorse.
“Four people are dead,” Tommy snapped.
“Three of whom deserved nothing less,” the guardian snapped back.
“Which one didn’t?” I asked as I moved to the side, putting distance between myself and Tommy. Standing together would have presented one large target, and I wanted the guardian to be nervous.
“Mona,” the guardian said. “I didn’t know they were going to kill her.”
“And the others?” Tommy asked.
“Those people died because of Vlad,” the guardian said.
“Vlad is dead,” I said.
“And those of us who aren’t human have long memories of what he did to my people,” the guardian said, his eyes darting between Tommy and me, his knuckles white from his grip on his one remaining dagger.
“You knew that Kozma and Varol were going to be here,” I said. “So, you hired the assassins?”
“You won’t understand,” the guardian shouted, his emotions bubbling over, as I spotted the glyphs drawn onto the backs of his hands.
“You’re a witch,” I said. “You’re using a lot of power, that’s a big chunk of your life gone.”
“I’m a guardian,” he said with an air of smugness. “Turns out, I’m immortal so long as I stay close to the realm gate, but I can still use my witch magic.”
“Lucky you,” Tommy said after he’d taken a step closer to the guardian.
“Why don’t you explain to me why you wanted Kozma and Varol dead?” I asked. “You said that Vlad hurt your people. Kozma and Varol were spies, they were trading secrets about Ottoman forces.”
“I’m from Targoviste,” the guardian said, the words coming with obvious difficulty. “Twenty thousand of my people were… impaled outside of the city. My family among them. Kozma and Varol worked together to ensure Vlad’s sadism was put on full display.” The guardian’s tone was full of hurt and anger, and I wondered how long he’d kept everything bottled up.
“They traded lives for coin! Coin!” he continued, his voice rising with every word. “Kozma might have sold the secrets to Varol, but Varol knew what Vlad would do to those people he captured. Innocent people.”
The guardian started to weep, and I took a step forward and he fell to his knees.
“You hired Viktor?” Tommy asked.
“No,” the guardian said, wiping his nose with his arm. “No, Viktor is…was aligning himself with a pack in Hungary. Many of those there are descendants of Vlad’s tyranny. Viktor and the other pride leader were here for a meeting about a year ago, I overheard them talking. When I saw the guest list for the wedding, and both Kozma and Varol were on it, I knew I had to do something. I contacted Viktor, and he took the opportunity to use his connections to gain closer ties with the other pack.”
“They offered Viktor money, didn’t they?” I asked.
“Viktor was being paid a million dollars for this assassination,” the guardian said. “He offered me a cut. I didn’t take it. This wasn’t about the money. It was about justice.”
“Justice for your family,” Tommy said. “I get that. I’d want justice too, but they killed Mona. She was innocent.”
“I told Viktor no innocent people,” the guardian said.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Cem,” he said softly, “The dagger the guardian held finally dropped to the ground. I didn’t want anyone innocent to die, I just wanted justice. I just wanted them to pay for what they’d helped cause.”
I collected Cem’s daggers as Tommy towered over the guardian.
“Is that why you had them kill Viktor?” I asked. “He went back on his word about killing innocent people.”
Cem looked up at me, his face awash with tears. “No, I never even saw the assassins. Never had any contact with them. You need to know something though. They weren’t alone.”
“The assassins?” Tommy asked. “What do you mean they weren’t alone?”
“Viktor’s pride is here,” Cem said. “They’ve been arriving steadily for weeks. There are a dozen of them. They only came through when I was in charge of the realm gate, and there were no documents to declare them. They’ve been living in the forest.”
“Why?” I asked, with a sudden itch on the back of my neck that made me glance around the clearing.
“Viktor said he needed them,” Cem said. “He said they were his backup if anything went south. If the plan didn’t work and Kozma and Varol escaped justice and fled into the forest, the lions could track them.”
“A dozen werelions?” Tommy asked, also looking around the edge of the clearing. “There’s no way he’d hire expensive assassins, and then bring his people here. Why not just get them to do the job?”
“He had another plan for them,” I said. “We need to get back to the village, I think this whole thing was going to be Viktor’s way to eliminate everyone he hates in one go.”
“Red Wedding style?” Tommy asked.
“I don’t know what that means, but probably,” I told him.
Tommy sighed. “Get your enemies somewhere together under a banner of peace to enjoy themselves, and have them all murdered.”
“That sounds about right, yes,” I said.
The sound of clapping came from behind, and I turned to find a man clad in black leather armor and black mask, strolling toward us.
“Well, aren’t you just the clever little detectives,” the black-clad man said, removing their mask.
Farkas, the leader of the assassins.
“You murdered at least three people,” Tommy said. “Possibly four, we haven’t discounted Viktor’s own murder.”
“We don’t kill the man who pays us,” Farkas said. “We had four targets, the two men here, his brother, and wife.”
“Your guys are dead,” I told him. “Did it myself. The clone guy too. You need much better people.”
“I don’t know who you are, but you’ll wish you hadn’t involved yourself,” Farkas said, drawing two basilisk-tooth blades from sheaths on his hip.
“You’re going to tell us what we need to know,” Tommy said, cracking his neck as he moved his head from side to side.
“Cem get back to the village,” I said. “Find Tommy’s people and tell them where we are. If you betray us, I’ll find you and make you wish you hadn’t.”
Farkas darted forward, swiping the daggers at Tommy, who was the closer of the two of us. I blasted Farkas in the chest with a torrent of air, but he wrapped himself in a shield of air himself, and the two cancelled each other out.
Farkas flipped away from Tommy and I, putting distance between us again.
“He doesn’t use his magic offensively,” I whispered to Tommy as, out of the corner of my eye, Cem bolted into the forest. “He’s all about speed and agility, about being defensive.”
Tommy gave me a subtle nod.
“Why’d you kill Mona?” I asked him.
“Viktor told us that he wanted Varol to watch his loved one die,” Farkas said. “Apparently, Viktor didn’t like other people playing with his toys.”
“Oh, I do not like you,” I told him. “Tommy, go make sure Cem gets back in one piece.”
“You sure?” Tommy asked.
“Yep, Farkas and I are going to have a chat.” I hadn’t taken my eyes off the assassin from the moment he’d arrived. “Get everyone into the castle, make sure no one leaves. Do you know about the werelions attacking?”
Farkas smiled. “You figured that out too? That was all Viktor, nothing to do with us. We kill the four, we get paid and go. With Viktor’s passing, there was no one to pay us. I relayed that information to the lions by the way. They should be dealing with their hatred shortly.”
Tommy clapped me on the shoulder. “Kill him quick.”
“You seem very sure of yourself,” Farkas said. “Am I meant to know who you are?”
I shrugged and ignited a whip of fire in one hand, and a sword of flame in the other. “You’ll find out,” I told him, and dashed forward, bringing the whip around to flick toward his face, trying to close the gap between us as quickly as possible.
The assassin moved back at speed, and pushed his hand forward, catching me in a telekinetic blast that was strong enough to push me back several feet.
“You’re the one who scrubbed the clone guys mind of you,” I said, rolling my shoulders.
“I did,” he admitted. “He was the newest, the most unknown. No way I would have done it to the others, kind of wish I had though, if one of them betrayed me.”
“Ah, if it helps, they didn’t do it voluntary,” I told him. “They died pretty easily though.”
Farkas’ eyes narrowed in anger.
“You’re going to have to find new people,” I said. “Well, you won’t, you’re going to be dead in a few seconds.”
Making Farkas angry did the trick and he ran toward me, his dual basilisk-tooth blades flashing through the air, trying to find my flesh as I deflected attack after attack, using air and fire magic to push his arms and the blades aside as we danced around the clearing.
One of the blades nicked the back of my hand, and I blasted Farkas in the chest with a palm of air magic, throwing him back across the clearing.
“You are not fighting,” Farkas said, getting back to his feet.
“I’m trying to figure out a way to not have to kill you,” I said. “I’m guessing that you’re responsible for a lot of murders over the years, and frankly, I’d like to have the names.” I didn’t say anything about how taking the spirit of someone who can use mind magic is neither pleasant, nor advisable. Their minds are a mess, and I’d done it a few times and resolved never to do so again.
“You’re not going to be able to take me alive,” Farkas said with a laugh. “You’re going to die out here for your friends to find, and then, once the werelions have murdered everyone in that castle, I’ll be going home a rich man.”
“You sure about that?”
He threw one of the basilisk-tooth blades at me, and I moved to dodge, but it followed me, Farkas’ telekinesis making the blade track me like a homing missile. Tendrils of shadow leapt out of the ground, taking hold of the blade’s hilt and tossing it aside.
“You can’t do that,” Farkas raged. He swiped his blade at me, and I moved
to his side, driving my elbow into his ribs, before turning and following up with a knee to the exact same place.
Farkas’ breath left his body in a grunt, and I drove a blade of lighting into his stomach, twisting it as I plucked the basilisk-tooth blade from his hand. I removed the blade of lightning and kicked Farkas in the chest, sending him sprawling to the ground.
“I helped kill a dragon not that long ago,” I told Farkas. “I killed Kay, I beat Gilgamesh, I beat Apollo within an inch of his life. What do you think you can do to me, Farkas? You hunt from the shadows; you kill from the shadows.” I crouched beside him. “I am the shadows.”
Shadows poured over Farkas like a tsunami, and he bucked and screamed. I couldn’t drag Farkas down into my shadow realm, he was a sorcerer, and that wouldn’t work, but that didn’t mean they were useless as a weapon. I turned dozens into razor-sharp spikes, which rammed into Farkas like he was a pin cushion, his scream of pain muffled by the shadows swarming his face.
With a wave of my hands, the shadows vanished.
Farkas was on all fours, blood pouring from a dozen places as he tried to crawl away. I walked after him, a blade of fire in one hand.
“Please,” he said. “I’ll tell you everything. I have a notebook, I have details of every killing, all of them. I’ll give it to you. I promise, just let me go.”
“Where is it?” I asked him softly.
“My house in Budapest,” he said. “Please.”
I kicked him in the face hard enough to break his jaw and knock him out. I used my air magic to hogtie him, and dragged him over to Sorcery, who had remained just outside of the clearing, watching, and as calm as the day is long.
“We’re going to take this sack of crap back,” I said, replacing my air magic with actual rope that hung from Sorcery’s saddle.
Sorcery looked at me, and then immediately froze, her gaze on the other side of the clearing. The darkness of the dense woodland hid whatever was there.
I reached out with my air magic, picking up heartbeats from the trees. Not just a dozen, but dozens and dozens of heartbeats. The werelions. The heartbeats were fast, they were ready for a fight. I climbed onto Sorcery just as the werelions burst from their hiding place, war cries upon their lips.
