“How did you? How could you?”
A rush of power filled me as Ebonsoul siphoned energy from Toson. His face filled with surprise beneath the pain. I didn’t know how to manipulate the earth, but I knew how to fire a magic missile. The power I felt was overwhelming, somehow I knew this wasn’t Toson—it was the power of the Earth’s Breath inside Toson.
I let the power fill me as he began speaking under his breath. A wall of stone rose from the ground between us, as he unleashed an immense fireball my way. I leapt to the side, extended my arm and let the power within flow.
“Ignisvitae!” I yelled, unleashing the power into my arm.
A violet beam blasted the stone wall, punching a hole clear through it. I limped over to the wall, still feeling a bit of pain in my knee and peeked through the smooth hole. Nothing. Toson was gone.
“Shit!” I yelled, slamming the wall. “Where the hell are you, Monty!”
“That was quite exemplary,” Monty said, materializing next to me. “But I think we may have miscalculated; that, or Professor Ziller was wrong.”
“Where the hell were you?” I yelled, whirling on him. “Where did you go? You said thirty seconds…thirty seconds!”
“I was here the whole time. I managed to activate the shortcut to no effect, which required I change tactics.”
“You changed tactics? To what? Hide and watch me get my ass slammed?”
“As I said,” Monty replied calmly, “you were exemplary and in no immediate danger. I did enjoy the drama with the knee, though. That was a nice touch—even if it was a tad overdone. Bravo.”
I almost blasted him with a magic missile.
“What the hell, Monty? I could’ve used the assist.”
“No, you couldn’t,” he said, serious. “We weren’t going to stop Toson tonight. You surprised him, but he won’t underestimate us again. The next time, he will unleash his full ability.”
“What are you saying? He was holding back?”
“We’re both still here with all limbs attached, even if mine are mildly scorched. I’d say that’s a fair assessment.”
“Then what was he doing?”
“If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say gathering intelligence.”
“Intelligence? You mean this was a scouting mission?”
“I can’t say for certain,” Monty answered, looking in the direction of the hub. “In the meantime, we have a golem to stop.”
“Dammit, Peaches!” I said, turning to look in the direction of where the golem was. It was gone too. “What the—?”
Peaches had reverted to normal size and was bounding over with Ursula behind him.
“Your assessment, Ursula?” Monty asked when she stepped close. “What did you gather?”
“Breaking his line of sight is going to be nearly impossible,” she said. “Tonight he was just testing the defenses. The golem is resilient.”
“Agreed. Were you able to damage it?” Monty asked, nodding. “How effective was your hammer?”
“Between me and your extra—sized hellhound”—she rubbed Peaches’ head—“we managed to slow it down. I don’t think we can stop it entirely. I knocked car—sized chunks off of it, only to have them reassemble into the golem. Even Peaches’ laser eye beams only punched temporary holes in it.”
“I see,” Monty said. “We will need to take measures.”
“No kidding,” I said. “Maybe we need the entire Council on this one.”
“They won’t be of assistance,” Monty said, and Ursula shook her head. “Not this or any time, I’m afraid. At least, not until your vampire is back in control.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “I’ll call Ken. I’m sure he’ll agree to give us a hand. The city is in danger, they’ll have to help.”
“Feel free,” Monty said. “I don’t think you will enjoy the outcome, but don’t let me stop you. By all means, please give them a call.”
I pulled out my phone and dialed Ken.
“Strong,” Ken’s clipped voice answered when the call connected. “Where’s my sister?”
“The last time I saw her, we were in Japan.”
“I know that,” he answered. “I meant after you met. Why isn’t she back here? You’re back, but she isn’t.”
“Have you met your sister? No one tells her what to do or when.”
I heard a string of Japanese words and realized he was cursing. It was surprising that curses sounded like curses in almost every language.
“Why are you calling me?” Ken asked. “I’m trying to keep the Council from imploding—in case you were wondering. I’m a little busy.”
“I’m calling because we have a situation.”
“You have a situation, not we.”
“This concerns the city, Ken. Get your head out of your—”
“You don’t get it, Strong,” Ken said, cutting me off. “You and your agency aren’t part of the Council. We owe you no allegiance. You don’t work for us, and we don’t work for you.”
“This situation concerns the city—the one you live in. We may not work for each other, but—”
“Our goals may have aligned in the past. That ended when your mage tried to destroy the city with Hades. If you have a situation, it didn’t start because of the Dark Council, which means you can solve it without our assistance.”
“Are you being serious right now?”
“Like a sword to the heart, Strong,” Ken said. “You’ve only been alive this long because Michiko cares for you. Right now, that’s the only thing holding back a full-out attack on you and your agency. They fear her—more than they hate you.”
“Well, fuck you very much, Ken. You and the Dark Council.”
“I can’t help you, Strong. The Dark Council has unofficially put you and your people on the KOS list. Do you know what that is?”
“Yes,” I said, surprised, but not really. “Kill on sight.”
“Good, then I don’t have to explain it to you. I shouldn’t even be taking your call. You have some extremely angry Council members who want you dead, repeatedly. Starting with the Weres in the DCE.”
I didn’t bother trying to explain what happened or how there were extenuating circumstances. The bottom line was that we had been headed in this direction for a while now. I just hoped I didn’t have to face Ken on a dark street one night. Only one of us would be walking away from that meeting.
“Thanks for the heads up, Ken,” I said, and meant it. “You’ve always been solid.”
“Listen,” he said, his voice softening slightly. “You want to help your cause and keep the Council in check? Find my sister and get her back here. Until that happens—watch your six.”
He ended the call.
TWENTY-SEVEN
“Kill on sight,” I said as we headed back to the Command Vehicle. “After all the times we helped them?”
“No, after all the times we helped your vampire,” Monty said. “Don’t conflate the two. There are factions within the Council that don’t like you.”
“Don’t…like…me?” I asked, incredulously. “What are you talking about?”
“One second,” Monty said, raising a finger. “Ursula, where is the strongest hub in the network?”
“That would have to be NP-11. It’s the central hub where several points overlap. That would be a beast to take, though. It’s incredibly fortified.”
“Where is it?” Monty asked. “In order to be an appealing target, it would need an immense amount of energy.”
“It’s one of the most visited places in the city and gets nearly one hundred thousand people every New Year’s Eve,” Ursula said.
“The hub underneath Times is entered by the police station right in the center of the Square.”
“Times Square? I thought that number was closer to one million?”
“Not unless each of those people were only an inch high. They aren’t getting near one million—don’t believe the hype.”
“You need to inform your people and fortify that position,” Monty said. “That will be Toson’s next target.”
“Only if he wants to die,” Ursula said. “He tries to take that hub, he unleashes all of the city’s defenses. They will come down on him so damn hard his head will spin.”
“Tell me again how you stopped the golem tonight?” Monty asked. “How would you rate the effectiveness of your deterrence?”
“Well, damn. Not effective at all.”
“That was with you, as a null, unleashing your power. The golem is a siphon. What do you think will happen when the city’s ‘defenses’ are unleashed? Those who aren’t nulls will—?”
“Feed that thing,” Ursula said. “This is not good.”
“Not in the least,” Monty agreed. “Please have your people prepare as many fortifications as possible.”
“I’ll get right on it,” Ursula said. “Do you have a timetable?”
“I placed a limiter on the artifact he’s using to control the golem,” Monty said, rubbing his chin. “It will take him a few days to unravel it. Three days. By then, he will be ready to move against the central hub. You have that long to shore up the defenses.”
“That’s not much time. How do you know he won’t try to attack before then?”
“Because Toson isn’t strong enough to do this without the golem. He’s counting on the city sending defenses to feed the creature—”
“Which will siphon the mages,” I said. “Transferring the energy to Toson and increasing his power.”
“If he’s only a shift or two away from Archmage…” Monty began.
“That energy boost will push him over the edge,” I finished. “He’d be an Archmage plus. A Super Saiyan Archmage—that would be bad.”
“Yeah, sure,” Ursula said, looking at me strangely. “I’d better go see to those defenses. I’ll keep in touch.”
She left us and headed to the far end of the cordon, where she jumped into a black 1947 Plymouth Business Coupe. The car was covered in the strangest runes I’d ever seen, besides the Dark Goat.
“That is one sweet ride,” I said as she sped away with a roar and a rumble. “You think that’s a SuNaTran vehicle?”
“Without question, considering her line of work.”
“What did you mean when you said the Dark Council didn’t like me?” I asked. “Not that I need them to, mind you.”
“You are the living embodiment of everything they have lost, while maintaining some semblance of normalcy,” Monty said. “You have the best of both worlds while belonging to neither.”
“What?”
“They have lost their humanity, which many long for, while gaining abilities and longevity of life,” Monty explained. “You have retained the semblance of humanity and have attained immortality, while gaining abilities. It stands to reason they would dislike you.”
“But like you said, I don’t belong to either of those worlds. I’m not entirely human nor entirely supernatural.”
“I’d argue you are more supernatural than normal, based on the premise of immortality alone, but this is your dilemma to reconcile, not mine. We each have our burdens to carry. Some heavier than others.”
We arrived at the Command Vehicle as Ramirez stepped out.
“Did you kill it?” Ramirez asked, expectantly. “Is the stone thing gone?”
“Not yet,” I said. “How many people do you have in the NYTF, and how possible would it be to close down Times Square?”
“Close down Times Square?” Ramirez asked, and then broke out in laughter. It died down suddenly when we didn’t join him. “You’re serious?”
“Yes. We think the next attack will be in Times.”
“You think? I can’t make a request to shut down the busiest intersection in the city on an ‘I think.’ I need to be certain, and even then, no guarantees.”
“The most powerful hub in the city is located in Times Square,” Monty said. “We have three days to prepare the area and devise a method to stop the mage controlling the golem.”
“Three days?” Ramirez asked. “That’s insane. Can’t be done.”
“If we fail,” Monty continued, “he will become even stronger and wipe us out. Do you want to take a chance on making that call, or wait to see if we were right as we die fighting for our lives?”
“Make the call, Angel,” I said. “If we’re wrong, we’ll take the heat. If we’re right, you get the glory.”
“If you’re wrong, my time in the NYTF will be done.”
“We’re not wrong. Make the call.”
“What the hell,” Ramirez said, after searching our faces. “Maybe it’s time for an early retirement. We don’t have enough NYTF to close the entire area. I’m going to have to pull personnel from other agencies.”
“Get as many sensitives as you can,” Monty said. “Relegate those to the inner areas. Keep the normals to the fringe areas where they will be safer.”
“I really hope you aren’t wrong, Strong. Now, get out of my face—I have to go put my career in jeopardy based on your hunch.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
Monty had opened the cavern that passed as a trunk on the Dark Goat and retrieved another black Zegna jacket, woven with dragonscale and runed against damage. He slammed the trunk and jumped in the passenger side as I turned on the engine.
“I really hope we aren’t wrong,” I said as we sped uptown in the Dark Goat. “You’re certain it will be in three days?”
“Not entirely,” Monty answered. “There are variables.”
I nearly swerved into oncoming traffic.
“What? Angel is risking everything on our recommendation. What do you mean, not entirely?”
“It was my best assessment based on the variables. The strength of the limiter I placed, factored against how proficient I thought Toson would be unraveling its design, factored against the inherent power of the Earth’s Breath.”
I let out a long breath. “This is bad.”
“If it’s any consolation,” Monty said, “if I’m wrong, we won’t be around. Well maybe you’ll be, but the rest of us will be killed. Toson will have become that powerful.”
I glanced at him sideways as I dodged traffic.
“That…is no consolation at all. Thanks. You’ve been hanging around Ezra too long.”
“Speaking of which, we need to go see him,” Monty said. “There was something Toson said that points to someone not being entirely forthright with us.”
“Ezra’s always been straight with us, I mean, he’s Death. Why would he lie? Besides, what would he lie about?”
“I wasn’t referring to Ezra. If there is one thing I’ve learned in my short life, it’s that, in the end, death is honest,” Monty said, looking back to some far away memory. “No, I was referring to Orahjene.”
“Jen? Miss ‘I need to kick your ass so you can go on a suicide mission for me’ Jen?” I asked. “That I can see. Do you want to call ahead? My guess is she’s still in the secret garden, mid-shift.”
“Good point,” Monty said, pulling out his phone and connecting it to the Dark Goat. “I’d like a reservation for three, with Ezra.”
“Is this an immediate reservation?” a voice asked. “Or would you like it for a later date?”
“Immediate, please. Twenty minutes.”
“I have you scheduled for twenty minutes from now.”
“Thank you.”
He ended the call.
“Reservation for three?” I asked. “Who are you inviting?”
“You plan on leaving your creature outside?”
“Of course not,” I said, glancing in the rear-view mirror at Sir Sprawly McSprawl taking up
the backseat. “I just assumed…I mean, he always goes where I go. We’re bondmates.”
“He still needs a reservation where we’re going.”
“I’m thinking back to what Toson said. He said too much has happened, that he can never go back. Then he mentioned Jen and something about them having a life together. Is it possible she’s setting him up?”
“She could have had it all—with me,” Monty said. “Those were his exact words. It speaks to a relationship of some kind.”
“Yes,” I said with a nod. “Sorry, my memory is a little hazy, I was a little occupied trying not to die.”
“Did she want you to kill Toson to get the artifact back?”
“Funny you should ask,” I said. “I asked her if she wanted him eliminated, considering he was such a threat to her and Red Mountain.”
“What was her response?”
“Not if it can be avoided. She only wanted to get the Earth’s Breath back.”
“There is definitely more here than she shared.”
“We’re about to find out,” I said, pulling up to the front of Ezra’s deli.
We stepped out and approached the entrance. The runes on the threshold pulsed violet as we opened the door—and stepped into the secret garden.
“Extraordinary,” Monty said, looking behind us. “Transdimensional portal physics without an external apparatus. Fascinating.”
The Golem: A Montague & Strong Detective Novel (Montague & Strong Case Files Book 10) Page 13
