Frozen Rage: A Hellequin Novella (Hellequin Chronicles)

by Steve McHugh

  The prisoners were marched past Demetri’s corpse, who had been decapitated by Remy when he’d gone outside and sworn he’d seen the weretiger move. Personally, I just thought he wanted to make sure, which wasn’t something I was against.

  Tommy’s contacts in Avalon arrived and arrested everyone involved, promising that the werelions and Farkas would be dealt with accordingly. I hoped that would be the case, but it’s hard to think the worst in people, so I made a mental note to check up on what happened to everyone.

  When it was over, I found the stable-hand who’d been leading Sorcery and checked that she was okay, along with everyone else.

  “She kicked a werelion in the face so hard that I have to clean brain matter off her hooves,” the stable-hand told me.

  “Good girl,” I said, picking an apple from the bushel and giving it to her as I scratched her behind the ear.

  “They’re easy to grow affection toward, aren’t they?” The stable-hand said. “It’s why I like working with them so much.”

  “Take care,” I paused. “I’m sorry, I never got your name.”

  “Arthur,” he told me.

  “Like the king,” I said.

  He nodded. “He’s returned now, hasn’t he? You think he can bring order to everything?”

  “I really hope so,” I said. “Take care of yourself.”

  I rejoined everyone in the castle and told Tommy’s people to get Melody, Sven, Beth, Logan, Lex, and Victoria to the dining hall, but to let them all shower and change first. There was blood all over the floor and walls of the castle, so I doubted anyone was in their best dress, and didn’t want them to have to sit around with their own, or someone else’s blood on them.

  “You think the wedding is going ahead?” Sky asked me.

  “I hope so, we’ll see after I tell the main players who killed Viktor.”

  “One of them did it, didn’t they?” Sky said. “I knew they were a bunch of double-crossing assholes.”

  I smiled. “You’re more than welcome to watch. In fact, depending on what happens, I might actually need some help.”

  Gordon and Matthew walked around the corner at that moment. Both were covered in blood, and both looked like they’d had a long night.

  I told them about the dining hall.

  “An hour,” Matthew said.

  “You planning on washing up yourself?” Gordon asked.

  I looked down at my own bloody hands. “Probably a good idea. How many did we lose tonight?”

  “Twenty-seven,” Matthew said sadly. “Ten guests, seventeen villagers. None of Tommy’s people, thankfully, but some of the werelions managed to climb the castle to the rooms above and started going to town up there. It’s not pretty, Nate. I’m glad Demetri is dead, or we’d have to execute him anyway.”

  “I can see if I can bring back his spirit for you to destroy,” Sky said absentmindedly.

  “You can do that?” Gordon asked.

  Sky shrugged nonchalantly. “Sure.”

  “Remind me to never piss you off,” Gordon said with a slight bow of his head.

  Sky smiled and winked at him.

  Diana and Tommy were directing traffic just beyond the foyer of the castle. His people had pretty much saved this realm from a massacre, and no one was stupid enough to argue with him about it.

  “Heard you’re having your Poirot moment,” Diana said to me.

  “I was thinking more Colombo,” I said.

  “You do annoy people,” Tommy pointed out. “It’s like your superpower.”

  “Both of you are terrible people,” I said. “I could have been anywhere right now, but instead, I decided to come help you, Tommy. And I’ll remind you of that fact for a long time.”

  Tommy dropped to his knees. “Is this better?”

  “You mock me,” I said in mock indignation. “Good day to you, sir.”

  Tommy got back to his feet as Diana slapped me on the back. “Glad to have you here.”

  “I said, good day,” I shouted, turning as if to storm away, before looking back at them both. “I’m glad I was here. I’m glad you’re all safe.”

  Tommy removed a piece of paper from his pocket and passed it to me. “I think you might find this interesting.”

  I unfolded the paper and smiled. “Where’d you get it?”

  “Viktor’s room,” Tommy said.

  “Thanks very much for that.”

  I went to shower, watching the hot water go from red to pink, and finally translucent took any built-up adrenaline with it. I dressed in a dark suit and a white shirt, because they were literally the only items of clothing I still owned that didn’t need a wash. I’d expected to be in the realm for a few days, I hadn’t expected to be fighting a pride of werelions, a weretiger, and assassins. People often suggested that trouble followed me wherever I went, and honestly, it was looking more and more like they had a valid point.

  An hour later, I made my way to the dining hall. Everyone I’d asked to be there was sat on chairs facing the windows. Several of Tommy’s guards stood at the doors, and Matthew, Gordon, Sky, Remy, Diana, and Tommy were all among the guests. I was pretty sure should trouble break out, it was going to be the shortest in history.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” I said as I walked across the hardwood floor. “Thank you all for coming.”

  “Can the wedding continue?” Sven asked.

  “Probably,” I said.

  “We were told to come here, but no one told us why,” Melody said. Of all of them, she was the one who’d taken the opportunity to shower and change as an invitation to dress up. She looked like she was going out for a party in 1920s America, in her long green dress and black heels. Everyone else wore normal street clothes, apart from Sven who had donned another suit.

  “This won’t take long,” I assured them when I got to the front of the group. “I wanted to let you all know that Viktor was behind the murders in the forest. It appears that Victoria was meant to be unhurt, allowed to flee and take word of what had happened. Viktor had a list of people he wanted dead.” I removed the paper Tommy had found and unfolded it. “He kept a list of orders in his room, I assume because he was concerned of being screwed over by Farkas or Demetri and his werelions. The orders were signed by all three men, agreeing to the terms set out.”

  “What were the terms?” Beth asked.

  “Victoria was to be allowed to flee back the village,” I said. “It was to stoke fear. Melody and Sven were to be butchered in their rooms, again to stoke fear, and then tonight, Demetri and his lions were going to kill the rest of you. Demetri and Viktor would rule the pride together, with Viktor being paid handsomely for setting this up.”

  I put the paper back in my pocket. “A young man found a possibility to get vengeance for his family, and he told Viktor, who used the opportunity to settle scores.”

  “The world is better off without him in it,” Melody shouted.

  “True, but that leads me to his murder,” I said.

  “I assume Demetri did it,” Sven said.

  “Maybe Viktor wanted more money,” Lex called out.

  “Victoria was hit by an arrow and infected with a paralyzing agent,” I said. “The same agent used to silence Viktor. The same one that let him be carried to the stables and nailed to them. They cut off his feet because there are few things worse for a were than the loss of the ability to run. He felt all of it, he just couldn’t vocalize the agony that was caused.”

  “And you killed Demetri,” Lex said.

  “Demetri didn’t kill Viktor,” I said. “Farkas didn’t either. The problem is that none of the other victims in the woods had manticore venom in them. So, if you’ll indulge me, I’ll tell you what I think happened.”

  No one said anything, nor did they move.

  “The plan to kill Viktor was concocted before the invitations were sent,” I began. “This was the perfect time. This was how everyone’s lives could be made better. Sven, you two hated either other and he wanted you dead.
Melody, you cheated on him, he was a thug, a bully, abusive, and generally just a shitty person. Lex, you just couldn’t stand what he was doing to Melody. Victoria, you always hated his guts. Beth and Logan, neither of you liked him, and both of you would have been happy to see him gone. You didn’t want him at the wedding, but Sven convinced you both to invite him anyway. But not his pack.

  “I think when Victoria got attacked, she used the opportunity to apply the paralyzing agent to her body before reaching us. She either left it in the woods to be found by whoever was meant to give it to Viktor, or you got into the medical hut first and used the time to dab a bit on the wound, but you used too much and it almost knocked you out for the day.

  “I think Sven applied the paralyzing agent, probably in a drink you gave to Viktor. He trusted that you would be the good guy, he was going to have you murdered, and there’s no way he thought you were doing the same to him. Once he was out, several of you murdered him. I don’t know exactly who did what, but you all took part. You were removing a murderous arsehole, so you had your turn, Orient Express style.”

  “Interesting hypothesis,” Victoria said.

  “But you can’t prove anything,” Beth said, getting to her feet.

  “Nor do I plan to,” I told them. “I said I wanted the truth, and I did, and I have it. You all helped murder Viktor because he was an evil little shit. This isn’t human law, this isn’t even Avalon law, and I’ve certainly killed people for being less of an asshole than Viktor was. Besides, he was going to have you all murdered at your wedding, so fuck him.”

  “So, we’re good here?” Melody said, getting to her feet.

  “Not quite,” I said. “Victoria how’d you get the paralyzing agent?”

  “Kozma had it on him,” Victoria said, looking up at me and holding my gaze. “I grabbed his trousers when I ran. I didn’t want it to be found if we all died. It would have put the plan in jeopardy.”

  Lex held Victoria’s hand and squeezed.

  “You all conspired to murder, and in some cases, took part in the murder, a monstrous man during a wedding celebration,” I said. “Why’d you ask specifically for Tommy?”

  “Because he’s good at his job,” Logan said.

  “You knew he’d want to figure out what happened,” I said.

  “We’d have told him,” Sven said, looking over at Tommy. “But when the murders happened, we couldn’t risk anyone trying to stop us. Viktor had to die.”

  “And with Demetri and Viktor gone, you now have access to a large part of Eastern Europe,” Tommy said.

  “That was never the plan,” Lex told him.

  “But a happy coincidence anyway,” Sky said.

  “If that’s how you want to look at it,” Lex told her.

  “This is the most fucked-up wedding I’ve ever been to,” Remy said. “Honestly, you can’t make this shit up.”

  “You can all go,” I said. “I suggest you have your wedding and leave a gigantic tip for everyone who works here. And I’m talking six figures. I don’t have a problem with you killing Viktor, but you brought a murderer to these people’s lives, and they didn’t deserve that. Make it right.”

  “We will,” Logan said, offering me his hand, which I shook.

  “Don’t make me ever regret letting you all go,” I told them as they all walked away.

  When the room emptied except for me and my friends, I sat on one of the chairs and sighed.

  “So, this was fun,” Remy said. “Remind me how much I’m getting paid for this?”

  “I thought you were doing it as a favor,” Tommy said.

  “Yes, until we almost got murdered,” Remy said. “Being eaten automatically kicks in the Remy doesn’t want to be fucking murdered fund.”

  “I have a similar fund,” Diana said.

  “See, standard operating procedure,” Remy said with a smile.

  “At least it wasn’t boring,” I said.

  “That is true,” Sky said from behind me. “Hopefully nothing this exciting will happen for a while. I could do with a holiday. Somewhere warm. Without weddings.”

  “Thanks for coming,” Tommy said, seriously. “All of you. It meant a lot. And my people are alive partly because of you guys.”

  “Tommy,” Gordon said. “If you hadn’t been here, a lot of people would be dead.”

  “Possibly us among them,” Matthew said.

  “It was good to see you both,” I said. “Even with the death, mayhem, and general…” I waved my hands around. “Everything.”

  We sat and talked for a while, before heading to bed. The next morning, the wedding took place quickly and most of the guests elected to return home rather than stay in a castle where some of their number had been murdered.

  I congratulated the married couple but said nothing else to anyone who had been involved in what had happened. I knew they weren’t responsible for what Viktor and Demetri had done, but I was still ticked off that I’d gone to a wedding and ended up having to kill a bunch of people.

  As I left the castle, Tommy was waiting for me. “Hey,” I said.

  “Cem died last night,” Tommy told me. “He threw himself at a werelion to keep him from killing a young family who were here for the wedding. He saved their lives. I thought you’d like to know.”

  I sighed; I was conflicted about how I felt. On the one hand Cem had helped cause what had happened, but on the other he’d done it because all he’d wanted was justice for his family, and I could understand that.

  “I’m glad I came,” I said as we walked through the courtyard.

  “Seriously?” Tommy said.

  “We helped save lives, that’s more important than me being irritated that I didn’t have a quiet weekend.”

  Tommy laughed. “I’ll make sure the next one is much quieter.”

  “You got plans?”

  “I’m going to go home and give my wife and daughter a hug,” Tommy said. “I hope we get a few years of quiet now.”

  “Me too,” I said. “You know if you ever need me, I’ll be there. No matter what.”

  Tommy hugged me. “I know.”

  “But if you ever invite me to a wedding where you’re doing security, you need to bring a lot more security. Like, all of the security.”

  Tommy nodded. “I will.”

  “Say hi to Olivia and Kase for me,” I told him. “I’m going to go sleep.”

  Tommy headed back toward the castle. I’d had worse weekends, but I hoped the battle in The Realm of Dreich would be the last one I’d need to take part in for the foreseeable future. But knowing my luck, something much bigger was on the horizon, waiting for me to be content, to find that little bit of peace, before it jumped out to surprise me.

  Acknowledgements

  This has been a novella I’d wanted to write for some time. The murder mystery with magic is always fun to write, so I’m glad that Nate got his time to do his best Hercule Poirot impression.

  As always, getting a book to something close to publishing standard takes a lot more than just me.

  A big thank you to my wife, Vanessa, and our three daughters, Keira, Faith, and Harley. Every time I sit down to write, it’s at least partly because of them.

  To my agent Paul Lucas for being supportive and generally just an awesome guy. I’m lucky to have such a cool agent.

  To Amanda J Spedding, my editor, who helped create a readable version of my initial draft. It was a pleasure to work with you again, and I hope to do so in the future.

  A huge thank you to Shawn T. King for not only agreeing to do the cover to the novella, but absolutely knocking it out of the park. It’s one of my favorite covers, and I’m so happy he was able to work on it.

  To those people who have stuck with my books since Crimes Against Magic, and those of you who might have discovered me through this novella. Thanks for taking the chance, and I hope you enjoyed the story.

  quin Chronicles)