by Gary Jonas
“What is that strange bird doing?” Esther asked.
Brand spun toward her. “I didn’t see you pop in.”
“What’s she doing?”
“Hell if I know,” Brand said.
“Is that the ghost?” Rayna asked.
“Yeah.”
“Tell her Jonathan is going to be all right. His chest will hurt for a few days but he’s fine. We’ll want to let him sleep for a while, though.”
“She’s not deaf,” Brand said.
“How the hell did she heal him? He’s immune to magic!”
“Good point,” Brand said. “What kind of magic did you use there?”
Rayna laughed. “It’s not magic.”
“So you’re like your uncle, and you’re really not human?”
“We’re human but we’re . . . different.”
“No shit.”
“Does that bother you?”
Brand shook his head. “Can’t say as it does.”
“And the ghost?”
Brand looked at Esther. “That bother you?”
“Tell her that since she saved Jonathan, she’s pretty damn nifty if you ask me.”
“She thinks you’re cool,” Brand said.
“I’m going to tell Kelly that Jonathan is okay,” Esther said.
Brand nodded. “You do that.”
Jenkins sighed. “I hope I can get the blood out of the sofa.”
Rayna nodded. “Do your best. If it doesn’t come out, we’ll buy a new one.”
KELLY CHAN
Esther popped back to see me before Graham came out of the office. “You’re still here?” she asked.
“We’re almost ready to go. How is Jonathan?”
“He’s fine.”
“Fine?”
“Turns out the Noble family is hiding a big secret.”
“Really?”
“That Rayna bird spit into Jonathan’s wound then breathed fire on it.”
“She cauterized it? What? With her breath? Or did she use some kind of tool?”
“When I say she breathed fire, I mean she literally blew fire. Flames coming out of her mouth!”
I looked around to make sure nobody would see me talking to nothing. “Like Godzilla in those awful movies Jonathan watches?”
“Yes. Like a dragon. She asked Brand if it bothered him, but you know Brand.”
“I’m sure he thought it was hot, if you’ll pardon the pun. Did she have an explanation?”
“Said something about how they’re human but different.”
“That makes sense. Okay, Esther, I have a theory, and since Jonathan is out of commission at the moment, I’ll run it past you.”
“I’m not a scientist.”
“Just tell me if this makes sense.”
“None of it makes sense to me.”
“From what I’ve been able to learn from what the Marshall Clan said, the Marshalls and the Nobles came here through the Dragon Gate.”
“The flaming gate in the tunnels under DGI?”
I nodded. “They must have been on the other side of it, in another world or another dimension or something. They opened it and came through. I mentioned this to Jonathan the other night, and he thought I must have misunderstood what they said because there was no way anything could come through the Dragon Gate. But I know Thomas said they came through the gate. It would explain why they dress like refugees from a Renaissance festival. It would explain their weapons. And it would explain, to some degree, Rayna breathing fire.”
“If you say so.”
“Does it make sense to you?”
“Kelly, none of this makes sense to me. I just think those Marshall people are dangerous. Can’t you just bump them all off so we can go home?”
“Just like that?”
“Why not?”
“Because something more is going on here.”
“So? That’s not our problem. We were hired to protect Graham and Rayna. If you kill the Marshall Clan, they’re safe. Right?”
I considered that. In the old days, I’d have been more than happy to just go kill them all. These days, as much as I enjoy killing, I’ve also found that life is worth preserving when possible. I see it every day in the women I train at the dojo. I could go kill the guys who beat them, but that wouldn’t solve anything. By training the women and helping them find their confidence again, they can handle the assholes who beat them if those assholes show up again. Sometimes killing wasn’t the best choice.
I couldn’t believe I was thinking that, but there you go.
“Kelly?” Esther said, waving her hands in front of my face.
“Sorry, I was just thinking.”
“Well? Can you go kill them and end this now?”
“I could if I knew where they were, but I don’t know if that’s the right answer here.”
“They killed Rayna’s parents, and they shot Jonathan. That’s enough reason for me.”
“They also ruined one of my shirts.”
“See? That makes it personal,” Esther said.
I laughed. “You want me to kill them for ruining my shirt?”
“I don’t care why you do it; just do it.”
“Listen to yourself, Esther.”
“I want to go home. I don’t like this job.”
I heard the phone ring in Graham’s office. I could hear his voice, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. Esther kept talking too.
“Time out, Esther,” I said. “We accepted the job, so we need to see it through. The job is to protect Graham and Rayna. It’s not to kill the Marshall Clan, though I admit that would be fun, and that’s part of why I wanted to come along, but still, that is not the mission.”
Graham exited the office. “Your friend was shot with an arrow,” he said. “He’s going to be all right, but maybe we should go check on him.”
“See? You could have interrupted him,” Esther said and popped away.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“Were you talking to someone a second ago?” he asked.
I pulled out my phone and held it up. “Just checking in with Diane at the dojo. No worries.”
JONATHAN SHADE
I woke up with a dull pain and tightness in my chest, but hey, at least I woke up. When my world went black, I thought that might have been all she wrote.
Someone had moved me inside the mansion and upstairs to a bed. Why wasn’t I in a hospital? I grunted with pain as I tried to sit up in the darkness. Rain pattered against the window, and I hoped it wouldn’t turn to snow.
“You’re awake?” Esther’s voice. “Don’t try to get up, Jonathan. Lie back. I’ll get Kelly.”
I touched my chest, which hurt. There was some kind of bandage covering the wound.
A moment later, the door opened and some light spilled in, which wasn’t too bad, but then Kelly flipped the switch, and bright light flooded the room. I shielded my eyes.
“Jesus!” I said. “Can the light be dimmed?”
“Good to see you’re alive,” Kelly said.
“Seriously, that light is killing me.”
“Deal with it.” She sat on the edge of the bed. Esther appeared near the window.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“A little after two in the morning.” She pushed me back. “You need to rest.”
“What happened?”
“You were an idiot.”
“I—”
“Brand told me all about your little fight with two Marshall brothers. He said the first guy you killed in self-defense, but the second guy you flat executed.”
“He tried to kill us. He was going to come back. So yeah, I killed him. It would be stupid to allow an enemy to live who’s tried to kill you once and threatened to do it again.”
“A few months ago, you wouldn’t have killed him. You had Brand with you. You could have captured him and held him. Questioned him. Arrested him. Something.”
“I can’t believe you’re giving me shit for killing someone. You of a
ll people. Really?”
“You haven’t been yourself lately.”
“I’ve never been more myself.”
“You’re not the man I knew.”
“Whatever. Is everyone all right?”
“Everyone is fine. No more attacks. Lucas dropped off his kids this evening, but by kids, I mean they’re in their early twenties. I was expecting little kids, not two college girls.”
“Well, they won’t be underfoot, then.”
“True enough. What the hell happened to you?”
“I got shot.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I really don’t,” I lied.
Part of me wanted to tell her what I’d been through so she would understand, but to do that would be to admit that I’d failed a few months back and my failure had cost her, Brand, and Darla their lives. I could still see them dying in my dreams. I could still feel the loss. Yes, I’d found a way to save them, but in so doing, I was afraid I’d lost the part of me that Kelly liked and respected.
“Fine,” she said. “Go to sleep.”
“Can I go to the bathroom first?”
“I don’t think you should be up and about yet.”
“And I don’t want to be known as a man who wets the bed.”
She almost smiled. I wanted to be the man she remembered, but that guy was gone. I could find shadows of him, but that’s about it. I liked being strong, though I didn’t feel especially strong at that moment. Getting shot tends to take the wind out of your sails. Go figure.
“I’ll help you up.”
“I think I can do it.”
She rose and stood ready to catch me. I sat up, grimacing a bit with the pain, then pushed myself to my feet. I didn’t feel dizzy, so that was good. I was glad to see I was wearing underwear.
“You okay?” she asked.
“I’m good.” I padded out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom. When I returned to the bedroom a few minutes later, I was relieved to see that Kelly and Esther had left.
I sat on the bed and spent the next twenty minutes listening to the rain, and trying to remember the man I’d been before. What was so good about him anyway? I was stronger and faster. If I were her, I’d much prefer the new me. The new me could take better care of himself, well, if you give me a mulligan for the arrow injury. I stretched out and went to sleep. My dreams were filled with the images of Kelly and Brand exploding and drenching me in their blood.
Again.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
KELLY CHAN
The next morning, after checking on Jonathan, who seemed to be in relatively good spirits, I asked Esther to meet me in my room. Brand could watch the Nobles while Esther and I talked.
I paced the floor, and Esther watched me. To an observer without magic, I would have been pacing the floor, talking to myself and waiting for replies before talking more. Jonathan was pretty good at playing the game as if it were normal, but I hadn’t had the same amount of practice.
“Here’s what I want you to do today,” I said.
“I was planning to watch over Jonathan.”
“You can check on him from time to time if you like, but I want you to stick to Graham and Rayna. They each have a key, right?”
“Yes.”
“Brand will be with Graham and Rayna at The Steam Room, but even so, Graham likes his privacy. As such, I want you to keep tabs on him when Brand can’t. You can also keep up with Rayna if she’s not in Brand’s sight. Rayna said she had a fitness class to teach today, and Graham has plenty of work to do in his office.”
“So I’m your invisible spy.”
“Yes, you are. But you’re also there to make sure if the Marshall Clan attacks that you can let us know immediately.”
“I can do that.”
“And I want you to learn whatever you can about what Graham is hiding.”
“You think he’s hiding something?”
“I’m ninety-nine percent certain he is. He didn’t want Jonathan around because Jonathan is too nosy. Graham hates the thought of a detective being near him. He knows Brand and I aren’t trained investigators. We’re more like the brawn, but he’s underestimating us. And he doesn’t know about you.”
“Unless his sister told him.”
“Doesn’t matter if she did. He won’t be able to see you.”
“Still, he might not be hiding anything,” Esther said. “Jonathan thinks he’s just an asshole.”
“That’s true but I’d bet my sword collection that there’s more to it. I don’t know that it matters as far as our job of protecting him goes, but it might. I’d rather have too much information instead of not enough.”
“Okay. I know I shouldn’t be worried,” Esther said. “It’s not like they can do anything to me. Right?”
“Exactly. You’re safer than Brand and I.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to make a run down to Denver. I want to check on something.”
“The Dragon Gate?”
I nodded. “Pop over to update me if you learn anything important. Otherwise, I’ll see you tonight. Got it?”
“It’s all berries.”
oOo
Two hours later, I entered Dragon Gate Industries. My favorite employee, Phil, stood at the reception desk. His eyes grew wide when he saw me. I kept my features blank, but inside I was grinning.
He fumbled with his computer screen. “I . . . didn’t see you on the appointment list for today, Ms. Chan.”
“I’m not on it. I need to see Mike Endar, and you’re going to facilitate that meeting for me.”
“I am?”
I scowled at him and he nodded.
“I am,” he said. “Go on up.”
“You’re a sweetheart, Phil.” I leaned over the desk and gave him a kiss on the cheek. From the look on his face, he probably thought I was going to bite his ear off. I winked at him and went to the elevators. I enjoyed messing with him more than I should, but it was harmless fun.
On the thirteenth floor, Mike Endar greeted me at the elevators. “Phil told me you were coming.”
“I knew he would.”
“What can I do for you, Ms. Chan?”
“Shall we talk in your office?”
“Here’s fine.”
I grinned. He tried to hide it, but I knew he was afraid to be alone in a room with me. The elevators opened into a large foyer that had several hallways shooting off to the offices and meeting rooms. He wanted to be in sight of anyone who stepped out of an office.
“No problem. I want to know what you held back from Jonathan when you gave him this job.”
“What do you mean?”
“You said to protect the Noble family.”
“Just Graham and Rayna. Those were Stephen’s instructions.”
“So you don’t care if Lucas dies?”
“Lucas isn’t on the board, nor does he contribute to DGI in any way, so he’s not my concern. Are Graham and Rayna all right?”
“So far,” I said. “The Marshalls have taken a couple of runs at us, and they’ve paid the price. Tell me about the Nobles.”
“I’m very sorry, Ms. Chan, but that’s not my place.”
“Do they have any magic?”
“Not that I’m aware of. The Marshalls don’t either, but the Marshalls may have access to a few individuals who do. That’s all I’m at liberty to say. I warned Jonathan that they might have some magic on their side.”
“I’m not here to hurt you, Mike.”
“I know that. If you wanted to hurt me, I’d be in pain right now.”
“See? You know me so well.”
“I also know you’re willing to hurt me if I don’t tell you what you want to know.”
“Bingo. Give the man a dollar.”
“The truth, Ms. Chan, is that I don’t know enough about the Marshalls to be of any help.”
“That’s fine. However, you might have mentioned that the Nobles aren’t exactly human
. That would have been good to know in advance.”
“It wasn’t pertinent to the job. Nor should it matter now. They’re human enough.”
“Do you know why the Marshalls want to kill the Nobles?”
He nodded. “I do but I can’t tell you that.”
“You mean won’t.”
“No, Ms. Chan. I mean I can’t. I am physically unable to discuss their history with you. Nor can I write it down for you. When Stephen joined the board, he had all of us sign a nondisclosure agreement, and as you may be aware, nondisclosure agreements are magically binding at DGI. There were only a few things I was permitted to say when I gave Jonathan the job, and I promise you I told him everything I could.”
“They came through the Dragon Gate,” I said.
He smiled. “I’m not at liberty to discuss their history, Ms. Chan.”
“Is there anything you can tell me about the Marshalls that doesn’t violate your nondisclosure agreement?”
“I’ve told you all I can, Ms. Chan.”
I nodded. “Thanks. You’ve been very helpful.”
“Next time you’d like to come see me, please make an appointment.”
“Why?”
“Aside from it being the proper thing to do, it will save Phil from having a heart attack.”
I grinned. “But that’s half the fun of coming here.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Can I at least tell Phil you won’t hurt him again?”
“I haven’t hurt him in nearly a year.”
“I know but can I tell him?”
“You can tell him anything you like. I doubt he’ll believe you. I can’t help it if I make a strong impression.”
He chuckled. “You have a nice day, Ms. Chan.”
The elevator took me back to the lobby, and I gave Phil a great big smile. “Thanks for the taste test,” I said and licked my lips.
He tried not to look afraid, but sweat beaded up on his forehead in spite of the air conditioning.
I left DGI, crossed the street to the Starbucks, and went directly to their back room. Nobody tried to stop me, but then they probably thought I was heading for the restroom. In their back room, I flipped a switch behind a file cabinet, which slowly swung out to reveal a small door that led to a corridor. There used to be wards set on that door, but as I was able to pass through, either they were no longer there or they were for only mundanes. That corridor led to a staircase that went down into the deep, dark black. There used to be an elevator too, but it was destroyed and never replaced. I didn’t mind taking the stairs.
