by Keri Arthur
“No, but I do I have three of them for you, and that should cover the more secure places. You’ll just have to figure out a way to take care of whatever security the other places might have.”
“How do I set it off?”
“There’s a small indent at the top. Press that down, toss it into the room, and let it do its stuff.”
I found the indent and nodded. “It won’t hurt people?”
“Unless they have a pacemaker, no.”
He handed me a small but well-padded bag. Inside it were the other two e-bombs. I added mine to them, then tied the bag to a loop on my jeans. “Thanks for this.”
“What’s the good of having a black marketeer for a friend if he can’t sometimes help you out with the good stuff?” His grin was wicked. “Anything else you need? Laser cannons, invisibility shields, fighter jets?”
I blinked. “You are kidding, aren’t you?”
His grin only grew, leaving me totally uncertain. I cleared my throat and added, “All I want now is for you to keep the security screens up and running for the next twenty-four hours.”
He waved my concerns aside. “Trust me, not even a gnat will get into this place without me knowing about it. And I have no intention of going anywhere until you give the all clear.”
“What about a gnat armed with an e-bomb?”
“My shields are shielded against such a possibility.”
“Good.” I looked down at the first address on the list. I didn’t know the street, but I’d been to Foster itself and was familiar enough with the place that Azriel could at least get us there.
I glanced at him, and within a matter of seconds we were standing in the middle of Foster’s small and rather empty Main Street. The address was listed as the Foster and District Historical Society and didn’t actually give a street number. But Foster wasn’t a huge town, so it couldn’t be too far.
And it wasn’t.
The historical society center was a collection of beautiful old buildings, including a post office, an old school building, several cottages, and a jail, and while both the post office and the old school bore old coats of arms, neither of them registered on the internal radar. They weren’t the key in disguise.
But I guess that wasn’t really that surprising. After all, why would the fates make it easy for us?
“They are believers in the old adage, the harder the tasks, the more you appreciate surviving them,” Azriel commented.
“That may be the case, but they still don’t have to keep shoveling the shit on.” I Googled the next address and brought up some pics. “And giving us one little break isn’t going to kill them.”
“We are still alive,” he said, voice somber. “I do not believe we should be asking for anything more than that.”
I flicked the phone around so he could see the pictures of our next destination. “If it comes down to a choice between survival and getting shit dumped on us, I totally agree with you. But they’re the ones who allowed this situation to get so out of control. It’d be nice if they gave the people who are trying to fix their mess more than just survival.”
“I do not believe the fates agree with your sentiments.”
Obviously, given they weren’t heaping on the help. We zipped across to the next location, a little town called Heyfield, but while the building—a pub with the name of O’Brien’s—did bear a coat of arms, it was Irish rather than Australian.
Our next destination was a prison near Sale and was obviously one of the places that Stane had meant when he’d mentioned high security. There was no way I was about to set off an e-bomb in such a place and let all manner of criminals loose, so I became Aedh and checked the place out that way. There was more than one coat of arms within the perimeter of the prison, as it was a government-run facility, but none of them were situated upside down or wrong way around, as my father’s hint had suggested.
Locations four, five, and six also proved to be useless.
“This is getting depressing,” I said, as we appeared on the center dividing strip of another town’s—this one called Yarram—main street.
“At least we now only have eight more locations to check out,” Azriel said. “That is far better than the fifteen we started out with. And are there not two possibilities in this town?”
I glanced down at the list and saw that he was right. “The first one is the post office.” I glanced over the road, looking for a street number. “It’s further down the road, by the look of it.”
He caught my hand and tugged me forward. Though it was not yet dawn, lights were on at the bakery and the delicious aroma of freshly cooked pastries and breads filled the air. My stomach rumbled, despite the fact that I’d eaten a full meal not that long ago.
“I can go acquire some, if you wish,” Azriel said.
I laughed. “Thanks, but no. And you’re going to have to get out of the habit of acquiring things. I have plenty of money to buy what I wish, and besides, I can’t imagine either the fates or your reaper bosses would look too kindly on you stealing.”
“You may be right in the long term,” he agreed. “But for the moment, if it relates to keeping you safe and/or in good health, they will turn a blind eye.”
So they could turn a blind eye but couldn’t lift a finger to help? “I think they’ve got their priorities screwed.”
“Possible.” He stopped as we reached a beautiful old redbrick and white concrete building. “I believe this is the building we seek.”
My gaze scanned the terrace that fronted the building. Two archways framed the square main entrance to the building, and on the left-hand side of these, there was a royal crest with the letters “ER” on them—once again, not what we were looking for. I pulled my hand from Azriel’s and walked up the steps. Postboxes lined the left-hand wall and an old sash window dominated the right. The door, however, was modern and clear glass. I peered inside. It was pretty much your typical country post office, with not only postal facilities, but sundry other items like cards, gifts, and various office items for sale. What I couldn’t see was a coat of arms. I became Aedh and slipped inside anyway, just to be certain.
“Off to the next one?” Azriel said, as I reappeared next to him.
I nodded and glanced at the address. “It should be at the end of the next block.”
We headed down that way. With the night so still and quiet, and the stars bright in the sky, it would have been easy to forget what we were here for, to pretend that we were nothing more than lovers out for an early-morning stroll.
As we neared the building, energy slithered across my skin—a caress so light it barely brushed the hairs on my arm. But the Dušan stirred in my flesh and I stopped abruptly. The key was near.
Remember we have a watcher, Azriel said, and tugged me forward again. You cannot give her any hint that we may have found the key’s location.
He was right; we couldn’t. I forced myself to keep the same slow pace even as my gaze scanned the nearest buildings. The building we were just passing was an old weatherboard home that had been turned into a pizza place, and then there was a small Mazda garage. The building beyond that was a large two-story structure that was painted a pale green and looked to be a mix of residential and commercial, with stairs leading to the upper floor nearest us, and a café at the far end.
The closer we got, the stronger the wash of energy became. Excitement and dread began to pulse through my body. We needed to find the key, to keep it safe from Hunter, and we couldn’t do one without jeopardizing the other.
I fought the fierce draw of the key’s closeness and slowed my steps as we reached the old building. I had to make a show of looking around for our watcher’s sake. The Dušan’s movements were growing stronger, and her head snaked up from my skin and stared upward. Knowing that the last two times she’d done something like this, she’d actually been telling me where the key was, I had no doubt it lay on the floor above us. But I couldn’t go straight there. I had to play the game first.
/> Azriel tugged me on. As we passed the last arch of the residential section and moved on to the café, the Dušan snaked around, her tiny claws digging into my flesh, as if in frustration.
I know, I know, and I wondered even as I said it whether she could hear me. I still had no idea.
Given she should not even be able to move or lift herself from your skin on this plane, Azriel said, it is entirely possible she could also understand even if she cannot communicate.
Why can she move here on Earth? Your Dušan can’t—can it?
No, it cannot. He mentally shrugged. Perhaps it is a result of your mixed ancestry, and the fact that you have always been not only sensitive to the elements of my world, but the more arcane arts here on Earth as well.
I made a show of looking through the café’s large windows. There were a number of tables scattered through the room, all decorated with checkered tablecloths in pale green and white and small vases of flowers, and along one wall there were a number of comfortable-looking sofas for those who wanted to relax a bit more.
“No crests inside,” I said, even as I mentally added, But it’s not like I can perform magic, so why would being sensitive to it matter?
I do not know. Dušan are not something reapers have ever been gifted with, so I am not overly familiar with what they may or may not be capable of. He mentally shrugged. But it is more than possible that—given your father was responsible for their creation—he endowed your Dušan with an ability to interact with this world.
Maybe. I walked on toward the intersection and the end of the building. The Dušan’s claws were digging deeper and beginning to sting. She was not happy we were moving away from the key. Why do you think my father gave you a Dušan if it’s not customary for reapers to have them?
Again, I do not know. Your father’s motives were never easy to understand at the best of times. Perhaps he merely wished to ensure the Mijai sent to protect you had the best possible chance of doing so.
He couldn’t have known you’d be the one, though.
Couldn’t he? He paused at the end of the building and looked down the side street. The building stretched before us, longer than it was wide. We turned the corner and continued on. Reapers and Aedh—even rebel Aedh—were not unknown to each other before this event. It is entirely possible he was aware that the most likely candidate to protect you would be a Mijai who not only had a dark and bloody past, but who was already familiar with this plane.
I guessed that did make sense. After all, he’d had me because he’d obviously known that he would need the help of blood kin to find the keys. It was entirely possible he’d also foreseen that Azriel would be assigned to keep me safe until they were found.
Smaller windows dotted this side of the building. I made a show of looking in each of them, but I really wasn’t paying much attention to what each actually revealed.
“Right,” I said, as we reached the end of the building. “Nothing there, so we’d better check the first floor. Is there anyone inside?”
Azriel’s gaze momentarily narrowed. “There are two people in the bedroom of the front apartment. I can use their memories to gain access.”
“Do it.”
A second later we were inside the building. I stepped away from Azriel and looked around. We were in a largish combined living and kitchen area and there were several rooms leading off it. One was obviously the bedroom, given that someone within was snoring very loudly, and the other was a bathroom.
Can you keep the occupants asleep? I asked, glancing at Azriel.
He nodded. They will not wake until after we leave.
Excellent. The Dušan was pointing toward the apartment’s middle front window. Given that there wasn’t a crest or coat of arms to be seen anywhere near it, it had to be outside, on the building itself.
Which meant we had to make more of a show of looking around. We might be doing nothing more than wasting time when we didn’t have a lot of it to waste, but we also just might be saving ourselves a lot of grief. Hunter couldn’t know we’d found the key. Not until we were ready to confront her.
I checked out all the rooms, then finally walked across to the middle sash window and lifted it. There was no veranda along this portion of the building, so I leaned out as far as I dared and looked up. There was some sort of crest or shield at the top of the building, but I couldn’t make out what it was from here. Not that I really needed to. The energy pulsing from it stung my skin almost as sharply as the Dušan’s claws. I called to the Aedh, slipped out the window, and headed up.
It was very definitely an Australian coat of arms, but not the one that was in use today. This one was very old, with the positions of the emu and the kangaroo reversed, and the shield holding images of a sailing ship, a sheaf of wheat, a sheep, and an anchor—images I guess were meant to represent both our origins and the two industries that had helped Australia grow.
I materialized a couple of fingers on my right hand and brushed them over the whole coat of arms warily. Energy bit me, sharp and dark in feel.
The shield portion of the coat of arms was the key.
I pulled my hand away and went back through the window.
“That’s not it,” I said, forcing an edge of disappointment into my voice. “This is really starting to piss me off.”
“Shall we move on to the next one?” Azriel asked, then silently added, We cannot risk leaving it there too long, just in case your ploy fails.
I know. But we can’t retrieve it until we do something about Myer. I wearily rubbed the bridge of my nose. I was beginning to get a headache, and it was no doubt entirely due to tension. Out loud, I added, “I need a coffee. Why don’t we head back to the café, and resume this in half an hour?”
The only way to deal with her might be to kill her. “Hunter’s deadline is little more than two hours away—”
I don’t want to kill her. It was somewhat weird to have a conversation on two very different levels. “I know. But if I drop with exhaustion, that isn’t going to find the key, either.”
“She may not see it that way.” And there is little other choice.
“Right now, I’m beyond fucking caring. I need coffee.” I hesitated, then glanced around the room and said, “And if you’re listening, Myer, feel free to mention my sentiments. I’m beyond caring about that, too.”
There was no response—but given she was on the astral plane rather than this one, that was no surprise. I returned my gaze to Azriel.
“Baiting Hunter, even via our watcher, is not a wise idea.”
“Yeah, well, she can’t fucking kill me until we find the key, and if she kills anyone else, she’ll never get it.” I glanced over my shoulder. “And you can tell her that, too, if you like.”
“Enough, Risa.” If Hunter has killed her brother, she is well beyond any sort of reasoning. Do not goad her into an action everyone will regret.
I sighed and stepped into his arms. Fair enough. “Home, James.”
He whisked us back to the café. I headed downstairs and made myself the largest mug of coffee I could find, then helped myself to some chocolate mousse cake and went back upstairs.
So, Myer, I said, as I plonked down on my office chair and munched on the cake.
Azriel moved across to the window and stared out. As I said, I really don’t think there are many options.
And I really don’t want to kill her if I can avoid it. I paused to take a sip of coffee. What if I knock her unconscious and bind her? From what Markel said when I killed Krogan, I think wherever they’re astrally traveling from, it’s a place only they access.
It is a very dangerous ploy.
I know, but I really don’t want to have too much blood on my hands at the end of all this, Azriel. Not when it’s the likes of Krogan and Myer, who are really only doing their job.
I can understand the desire, but in war, there is sometimes little other choice.
We aren’t at war, I wanted to say, but the fact of the matter was, we wer
e battling dark forces who wanted to either destroy this world or control it, and if that wasn’t war, then what was? I finished my cake and licked the mousse from my fingers. The only trouble is, to know where her physical body is I’m going to have to astral travel, and she’ll suspect something is wrong the minute I step onto the plane.
Can you not travel from where you are? It would be less obvious.
I can try.
Then do so. And be fast, in case she becomes aware of what is happening.
I drank some coffee, then put my mug on the table and closed my eyes. There was no time for finesse, no time to find calm and inner peace. I quickly went through the process that would take me onto the astral plane, and in very little time felt the pull of my soul as it came away from my body.
I immediately imagined myself standing in front of Myer’s physical body, and even as I pulled fully free from my flesh, the plane blurred around me; then I found myself in a small, dark room. Myer was short and dark haired, with muscular arms and scars down one side of her face. She lay on one of half a dozen beds that were in the room, none of the others of which was occupied.
I glanced around, the tension running through me reflected in the vibrations beginning to roll across the nearby plane, creating an odd sort of thunder. I flexed imaginary fingers, trying to calm down, yet knowing I couldn’t stay here long. Myer was far more adept at astral traveling than me and might just realize something odd was happening back at the café. If she decided to travel to wherever I now was, the shit would really hit the astral fan.
I spotted a heavy-looking metal door and imagined myself on the other side of it. In the blink of an eye I was. There was a security checkpoint in this room, complete with iris and body scanners, and a guard armed to the teeth. They weren’t taking any chances with the safety of their travelers—which made me wonder how in the hell Markel had gotten rid of Krogan’s body.
I moved on, past the scanners, following the shadowed corridor. I couldn’t travel in Aedh form to this place if I didn’t actually know where in Melbourne it was located.
