by S T Branton
This little prick couldn’t fool me twice. “What the hell is wrong with you?” I shouted. “This kind of shit isn’t funny. It’s fucked up!”
Lorcan laughed… and became a face I knew all too well. He even had the floppy hat pulled down over his eyes. “In my defense, it’s a little bit funny.” The image of Sam glanced at me quizzically.
“What’s your goal here?” I demanded. “Besides pissing me off.”
Another laugh. “We’ve been watching you, Miss Vic. Studying your movements, your connections, your habits. Partially so that I would be able to insinuate myself flawlessly into your life, but also because you are frankly, quite fascinating. It’s been a long time since we saw a human take on the gods this convincingly.”
“What’s your grudge against the gods?” I stared at him.
“On the contrary. I admire them, which is why I want to rule them. But they are a prejudiced lot—they have no respect for those like me. Luckily, they are easy to deceive. Once I have killed Lorcan and assumed his place, I will lead his army to victory over his siblings. Simple really.”
“It won’t work,” I scoffed. “Lorcan won’t fall for that. He’s probably already seen you coming. He’ll be waiting.”
“O, ye of little faith,” Dorias sang.
“Where’s Jules? Let me see her.”
“Sorry, my dear. No can do. I have an extremely important meeting to attend, so I’ll have to excuse myself. But you have my word that your friend is fine—for now. She’s a wonderful source of information regarding you.”
With that, he was gone again. The outer door shut and locked. Rupert’s measured footsteps crossed the next room. A chair scraped on the floor. Silence.
I turned my head toward the pillow and screamed my frustration. Then I took a few deep, cleansing breaths, willing myself to get control over my emotions. That damn changeling knew how to press my buttons even better than Lorcan, and he seemed to relish doing so with sadistic intensity. It was enough to set my blood at a rolling boil.
The heavy layer of quiet was broken by a banging on the door. I could hear the muffled sounds of Rupert moving around. Then he spoke. “Who is it?”
“I’ve been sent by the boss to check on the captive,” said a female voice. My heart leapt. Maya!
But Rupert was a little too savvy to fall for her basic tricks. “The captive is in no need of extra supervision,” he intoned. “You should leave.”
“I really hoped I wouldn’t have to do this,” Maya said. “And yet somehow, I don’t feel bad.” Soon after, her howl pierced the air. I tried to follow what was happening, but without a clear view it was impossible to tell.
Then the door to my room busted open as Rupert flew through it. He bounced off the wall and hit the floor hard.
And there was Maya, standing in the doorway. She was a tower of red fur and teeth and looked fit to kill a god.
But Rupert wasn’t done yet.
I watched as he pushed himself to his feet and caught a glimpse of his stupid expression. But it wasn’t on his face anymore, it was lying on the ground. I looked from the skin mask that now lay flaccid on the floor to the green snarling skin of some kind of goblin.
The real Rupert was far from calm—and there was no hint of fear. He charged forward, his massive body crashing in to Maya’s. The last thing I saw before they rolled out of sight was the Maya raining furious blows down on him.
Things thudded into the walls and floor. The walls shook.
And then they were back in my room.
Rupert was a bloody mess, and clearly desperate. He began pelting her with articles of furniture, bombarding the Were with tables, chairs, even a framed mirror. The glass splintered all over the floor.
Maya shook her head vigorously. She had him cornered now, and she knew it. He tried one more time to slide past her, to no avail. She caught him in her great paws, slammed him down on the floor, and struck such a mighty blow across his face that his neck snapped from the strain. I caught a glimpse of his blank eyes just before the light left them.
Then Maya stood in front of me, human once again. She grabbed a blanket off the bed and tied it around herself like a toga. “There has got to be a way to keep my clothes on,” she said as she bent over my cuffs. “Can we work on that?”
“Sure.” I grinned at her. “I’m thinking a spandex bodysuit or something.”
“Gross. Maybe I’ll just stick with bare-ass naked.”
I laughed. “You did pretty damn well on your own, though.”
She laughed nervously. “Thanks, I think.” Her eyes flicked to the spot on the floor where Rupert had met his maker. “I just killed that guy.”
“Trust me, that was no human. And if you hadn’t killed him, I was gonna do my best.
“Oh.” Her hands trembled slightly as she searched his pockets for keys, then she released me. “I think I might be a little sick.”
“Hey,” I said. “Thank you.”
She nodded. “Are you okay?”
I rubbed my wrists. “Other than some chafing, I’m fine. I think my stitches even held up.” Looking at her closely, I asked the question that had been on my mind since I heard her at the door. “How the hell did you find me here? I know I didn’t leave a note this time.”
By way of an answer, she walked over to the table where the medallion rested and picked it up, holding it out to me. “A little birdie called and told me you needed some help.” She smiled slightly. “So I helped.”
I slipped the chain over my head. “You called her?” I asked Marcus.
Yes. I have never done something like this before, but I suspect our training sessions have fostered something of a connection.
“Oh?” I gave Maya a teasing smile. “A connection, he says.”
“Don’t ask me.” She held up her hands. “I could just feel him, you know? Feel his need. Which led me here.”
“I don’t know whether to be thankful or jealous that you’re cheating on me,” I said.
Nonsense, Victoria. You will always be my favorite surly protégé. Not even Maya’s charm and zest for life could replace you.
“Um, I don’t know what he’s saying, but you don’t have to worry about that. Marcus is nice, but even if he had a body, he’s not my type.”
See? The feeling is mutual.
I laughed for the first time in two days, despite the sick worry for Jules still hanging over my head. “I owe you guys big time. Let’s get out of here before Dorias comes back.”
Dorias? The name is familiar to me.
“Well, I’ve got one hell of a story to tell. Maybe it’ll jog your memory.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Finally freed from my cell, I took a moment to survey the apartment. It was bigger than I’d expected and decked out with a strange amount of finery. It was oddly hard to leave the place behind, knowing Dorias had somehow captured Jules. I kept feeling like there must be critical clues I was missing.
Maya and I lingered in the tastefully paneled dining room. Maya stood. I paced back and forth, absolutely fuming.
“I can’t believe I let them get her,” I said. “When the fuck did it happen? Why didn’t I know? I should have been able to tell.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Maya said. “We’ll find her.”
I looked at her more sharply than I meant to. “How can I not be hard on myself? She’s been my best friend since high school, and I didn’t realize she’d been body-snatched by some asshole shapeshifter? What the hell is wrong with me?” The guilt crashed over me like a tsunami; if I wasn’t already so full up on anger, I might have cried. To top it all off, Dorias had my sword, because of course he did.” I ran my fingers up into my hair and clenched them. “Damn it to hell.”
“Breathe, Vic,” Maya said soothingly. “I’m not trying to tell you things don’t look bad, okay? But all hope isn’t lost just yet. There’s still something we can do.” She crossed to the doorway leading into the room where Dorias-Jules and I had been kept
. “Look around. Is there anything here that you know is actually hers?”
I inspected the scattered contents of the room. Among the debris, caught beneath a pile of newly broken furniture, a brightly colored silk scarf lay in the dust. Jules had gone through a phase where she’d worn that thing every day for months. I could have recognized it from a mile away. After dislodging it, I held it up for Maya to see. “This.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. When she was identifying as boho chic or whatever, you couldn’t pry this thing off her neck with a crowbar.”
Maya smirked and took it gently from me, holding it fanned out between her palms. “Okay, I’m going to do something, and I don’t want you to think it’s weird. It’ll help us get to Jules, I promise.”
“You could sacrifice ten goats at this point, and if it would help Jules, I wouldn’t blink a damned eye,” I said truthfully. For the first time in too long, my best friend was my number one priority. I desperately needed to find her. But I had no idea what Maya was getting at. Jules could’ve been anywhere—knowing New York the way I did, the possibilities were truly daunting. A wave of despair flooded over me. “What are you going to do?”
She lifted the scarf to her nose and took a deep breath. “I can use this to track her scent. Trust me. My nose is like a billion times better than it used to be. Fringe benefits of the transformation.” She raised her chin, sniffing the air. “You’ll have to trust me. All right? I’m not bullshitting you about this.”
I was still skeptical, which I think she knew, but it wasn’t like we had many other options to choose from. “Thanks, Maya. Good luck.”
She nodded, squeezed my arm. “I’ll meet you back at the loft.” That said, she turned and headed out with the scarf in hand.
Let us depart as well, Victoria. There is no point in remaining here any longer.
I pressed my lips together. “I guess so. I’ll be able to think better at home.” Casting one last distasteful glance around the bedroom where Dorias kept me prisoner, I went through the front door, taking care not to follow too closely in Maya’s footsteps in case someone was watching. “She’s onto something, isn’t she?” I said absently to Marcus. “She must be.”
Have faith. Maya is stronger than she seems, and her gift is real.
“She seems pretty damn strong already.” Still, I told myself to follow Marcus’s advice and work on cultivating a sense of optimism as I headed back toward my loft. Things had gotten pretty dicey in the last day or so, but they weren’t irredeemable. I just hoped Maya really could find Jules, and that when she did, my friend would be okay.
***
I waited ninety minutes before I allowed myself to start getting the smallest bit nervous. I wasn’t about to say that I thought Were senses were a precise, infallible science, but I hadn’t even been able to touch base with Maya yet, let alone get a mission update. My stomach kept doing little flips as I tried not to look at my phone.
Another hour crawled past. Nothing. All this inaction was driving me up the wall. Finally, I heaved a sigh and reached for my phone.
Do not act rashly, Victoria. Sometimes tasks require patience and diligence to complete. Let Maya work in her own way—without your distractions.
“It’s not that,” I told him. “I’m just done sitting around. Maya will do her job, I’ve got to do mine.”
The mayor?
“Exactly. Dorias is hoping that if he kills the mayor, Lorcan will let his guard down. But as much as I’d love to see those two assholes duking it out, I can’t allow an innocent person to die. Not if I can stop it. And, it’s the one place we know Dorias will try and go. If I can catch him, maybe I can force him to give up Jules.”
It is worth a try. But how are you going to accomplish that?
“With help,” I said, then hit speed dial.
“Vic?” Namiko answered on the second ring. “What’s going on?”
“A lot.” I sat down on the edge of my mattress in a vain effort to keep my legs from pacing automatically. Instead, one of my feet nervously tapped the floor. “I’ll tell you the whole story later. For now, suffice to say it’s been a weird couple of days, and I need your help.”
“Well…of course I’ll help you if I can.” The ticking of her keyboard started up in the background. “What kind of information are you looking for?”
“It’s about the mayor. Mayor Inglewood. He’s in danger and I need access to him. His meetings, his home address, that kind of stuff. And maybe a way to meet with him face to face. Somehow a crazy email about how the gods are trying to kill him doesn’t sound like it will go over super well.”
“Done,” Namiko said. “Well, not done. It’s beyond my skills. But I’ll pull in some favors. Hell, they may do it just for the fun of messing with a government official—they’ll likely be tickled when I say it’s the mayor of New York. Let me make a few calls and see what I can do.”
“Really?” I breathed half a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Namiko. I don’t know what the hell I would do without you.”
I could hear her tiny laugh. “Neither do I. I’ll call you back in a sec, okay?”
“A sec,” turned into half an hour, but there was a hint of pride in her voice when she called back. “You’ve got a meeting tomorrow. Ready to hear your cover story?”
“Oh, shit. You did it?” Despite the fact that I was the one who’d called her initially, my mind was still a little blown that she had actually managed to pull it off.
“My friend did. Said it was the easiest hack he’s pulled in a while. The mayor’s password was password. Anyways, you’re going in as Shannon Lambert, a lobbyist for a big pharma firm in Philadelphia. You want to discuss serious campaign contributions ahead of the mayor’s next upcoming election.”
“I have to warn you, I’m not the most politically aware person in the universe.” The last five years had made it hard for me to see the bigger picture in terms of stuff like that. No way would I be able to go in cold and keep my head above water.
“No worries. I’ll send you some notes as soon as we hang up. You’ve got until noon tomorrow to get ready.”
I sucked in my breath. “Okay. That’s great.” It was great, but my palms were already sweating.
“You’ll be fine. Apparently, the mayor is very excited about your meeting. Guess his campaign coffers must be running a little dry. And remember, you’re just trying to get through the door. I don’t expect you’ll be needing to chat him up on adequate provisions and tertiary details.”
“I hope the hell not.” I ran a hand through my hair. She had a point, whatever those words meant. I just needed to get through the door. “Hey, I really owe you one for this, Namiko. You have truly saved my sorry ass yet again.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she answered. “Keep these assholes from ruining the whole damn world, and I think I can consider everything more or less even.”
We said goodbye. I felt better having accomplished something. I would meet the Mayor, convince him somehow of the shit that was about to go down. But that was only part one of the plan.
Part two required help of a different kind.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Deacon St. Clare.” He answered the way he always did, with an air of abstract professionalism, but this time, I could sense something else under the words. Apprehension, maybe. Anticipation. He knew something big was about to drop.
“You got a minute?” I asked.
“Give me just a second,” he said in that same cool, noncommittal tone. A moment later, the sound of a door closing came through clearly. Then he said, “What’s up, Vic? I didn’t get very far tracking our mystery man’s leads. I’m not that good of an agent.” That was more like the Deacon I knew, but he was still wary. Unsurprising, given my history of alarming phone calls.
“It’s not that. I need your help. Again. But first, I need you to shut up and listen to me all the way through before you say anything. Start to finish. Is that a deal?”
&nb
sp; “Deal,” he said without hesitation.
I had to admit I was a little taken aback by the willingness with which he agreed to my terms. Not to be deterred, however, I forged ahead. “Mayor Inglewood has been targeted by the Forgotten. He’s going to be assassinated by a shapeshifter. They have the ability to take on the voice and appearance of anyone they want. They can change at will. And they view the mayor as an obstacle to their end goals. I’ve gotten a meeting at City Hall at noon tomorrow. I need you to cover me.”
“Vic, if you’re telling me the truth, and I’m choosing to believe you are, this is an incredibly serious matter of government security. Hell, we need to have men all over City Hall and the mayor himself to make sure this prick doesn’t slip through. I know you’re… unique, but you’re only one person. Maybe step back and let the Bureau take care of it.”
“No.” I heard Deacon sigh. “I have to be the one who stops the assassin.”
“You want to play hero that badly?” The words were less scornful than I would’ve expected, coming from him. He was genuinely confused and curious. “It could be a suicide mission, Vic.”
“Don’t you think I know that? Look, I’ll be honest with you. I might be the only one strong enough to stop this guy, okay? That’s not a slight against you, but you don’t know what you’re up against. Hell, I don’t even really know what I’m up against. But like you said, I’m unique.” I paused. “Plus, we’ve got some personal business to settle.” I chewed my lip. “He has Jules, Deacon. I can’t have this go sideways, and I know I won’t be able to do what I need to do and manage agents at the same time. So I just need you to cover me. I’ll keep the mayor safe, then you send in the cavalry once I’m done with him. ”
He was silent for a little bit after that. I held my breath, waiting.
“All right,” he said at last. “I’ll trust you. But we’re not going to be far away.”
