Showdown in Magic City (Magic City Chronicles Book 4)

by TR Cameron

  “So, what prey do you wish to hunt tonight?”

  Morrigan chuckled. “Well, we need to pursue the black-market ring to make Ruby happy. However, it seems to me that Grentham is part of that, in addition to being one of the owners of Aces Security. So, finding him and following him would be honoring the promise we made to focus on the black market, right?”

  The shapeshifter laughed. “You’re sneakier than your sister. I like that.”

  “Smarter, too. I coincidentally asked Demetrius where our target is known to hang out, figuring Ruby was having him watched. She was, and he usually starts his evenings at the Double Down. How about we go take a look?”

  “Perfect. I’ll lead.” Idryll headed for the roof edge and jumped across the narrow alley separating their building from the next. Morrigan ran in pursuit and made the jump without using her magic. They continued that way, rooftop to rooftop until they reached one opposite the club. The shapeshifter asked, “Shall we go in under an illusion?”

  “I think we have a better option.” She handed over a black plastic box, about the size of a deck of cards but notably heavier than it looked. “Can you get this on the roof over there without being seen? It needs to be as near the center as possible.”

  Idryll snorted. “Please, you have to ask?” Morrigan cloaked the shapeshifter in a veil just in case, but her stealthy passage likely wouldn’t be noticed, given her skills. She descended to the street, crossed, and climbed up the side of the building hidden in the shadows filling the alley beside it. When Idryll returned, Morrigan activated the connection to Demetrius. “Hey, D, your hack box is in place.”

  The infomancer’s annoyed voice replied, “Quit calling it a hack box. It’s a signal booster.”

  “Yep. Like I said. Hack box.”

  He sighed. “You know, I don’t have to help you.”

  Morrigan answered sweetly, “You mean because we’re not sleeping together like you and my sister? We can change that, big boy.” She put all the sarcastic lasciviousness into the comment that she could, and he laughed.

  “First of all, I’d never do that to Ruby. Second of all, you’re not my type.”

  “Not into the brainy ones, is that it? Pretty and dumb is your thing?”

  He heaved a sigh and decided he’d lost the battle or at least wasn’t interested in continuing to fight it. “Okay, I’m into the club’s cameras. Pathetic defenses. I’m looking for Grentham?”

  “You got it. We only need to know if he’s in there.”

  “Yep, I’ve spotted him. Table in the back, surrounded by dwarves, probably flunkies based on their body language.”

  Morrigan grinned. “Perfect. Tell us when he moves?”

  “Sure. You’ll handle submitting my bill to Spirits?”

  “Of course. Since we don’t share a personal relationship like you and my sister, we’ll have to do it with money.” She heard the beginning of another exasperated sigh before he turned off the connection. She laughed. “Too easy.”

  It took forty-five minutes before their target exited, and they followed him from above as he walked down the street toward the nearest of his pawnshops. She’d wondered before why he didn’t portal to the place. Ruby’s opinion was that he liked being seen, enjoyed being perceived as a man of the people, as part of the community. In any case, it made tracking him possible. Morrigan and Ruby agreed it wasn’t a long-term solution, though. They needed a better way to keep tabs on targets in general and follow them if they chose to use magical transport. Her sister claimed she was working on it, but Morrigan planned to bring it up with Margrave herself, nonetheless.

  She carried a burner phone and recorded pictures and videos of the various shops he stopped in to share with Alejo. He visited three before suddenly entering a small specialty shop they’d never connected him to before. It wasn’t a pawnshop, but it did sell magic items. Morrigan said, “I wonder if this is the legitimate face of the operation or something? Maybe money-laundering, like on TV shows?”

  Idryll shrugged. “I don’t think I’ve seen those shows. It would be good to know what’s going on inside there. Will your fancy box work?”

  Morrigan shook her head. “There won’t be cameras in there, I’m sure. Criminals tend not to enjoy being watched and recorded. We’ll need to do it the hard way.” They descended to street-level, crossed to the opposite side, and searched all accessible surfaces of the cube, including the roof. The structure had no windows, and only two doors, neither of which would be easy or quiet to open. She growled, “Dammit. I guess we go back up and wait until he comes out. Hopefully, there’s nothing super important going on in there.”

  Goryo had silently observed the dwarf’s entrance from a hidden corner inside, pleased to see he had come alone. While he could have simply destroyed the place to find what he was looking for, he preferred finesse whenever possible. When he’d put the word out on the streets about the presence of the precious object contained in the shop, he’d been sure it would generate a response. As always, it was nice to be right.

  He said, “Good of you to come.”

  Grentham spun with his hands raised, ready to defend or attack, and Goryo made a clucking noise over the pistol he held pointed at the other man’s face. “Remain calm. It’s loaded with anti-magic rounds. There’s no need for us to fight. We are, more or less, on the same side.”

  His response was a snarled, “I would say less than more on that front.”

  Goryo inclined his head. “As you wish. Nonetheless, I believe our mutual employer made it clear you are to provide me with whatever tools I require, correct?”

  Grentham sighed. “Yeah, he did. So, I presume you’ve been through the place?”

  “No. I chose to wait so you could show me around.” The grinding of the other man’s teeth was audible, and he inwardly smiled while maintaining a stoic expression. The dwarf dropped his hands, and he lowered the weapon. “Shall we?”

  His unwilling host showed him the various objects in the cabinets, which included weapons and defenses, plus pendants and spelled jewelry of multiple kinds. The only thing they all had in common was their potency, which was higher than items sold in the city’s other shops. Goryo observed, “I had wondered where the best pieces were held. Now I know. Who are your clients?”

  “Mr. and Mrs. None-of-your-business, buddy.”

  Goryo laughed. “I understand it’s hard to know your employer has so little faith in you that he felt the need to bring me in. Don’t worry. My time here is transitional. Once the very lucrative contract I’ve undertaken is complete, you won’t see me again. So, ultimately, it’s in your best interest to assist me.” He pointed at several objects. “I’ll take those.”

  Grentham sighed but collected them and handed them over, each in its soft fabric bag. “See that you return those when you finish with the task. Nothing about the arrangement said you get to keep my stuff.”

  Goryo nodded. “Except for one item.”

  “Which one?”

  “The one you haven’t shown me. The one you have hidden away in a secure location. The most valuable object in the shop. You know of what I speak.”

  Grentham growled, “How did you find out about that?”

  He shrugged. “I have my ways. Now, give it to me.” He twitched the pistol slightly to emphasize his command.

  For a moment, he thought the dwarf would balk, would decide that battle was preferable to surrendering the precious object. However, the other man turned, grumbled, and walked into the back room. Goryo followed at a careful distance and watched him spin the dial on a large combination lock, then open the door of the heavy safe. Grentham placed an ornate black carved wooden box on the table on the desk. “There. Go ahead and put it on.”

  Goryo shook his head. “I am neither stupid nor uninformed, dwarf. Open the container.” With a sigh, as if to say that his patience had reached its end, the other man removed the top to reveal a silver octopus-shaped bracelet, large enough to go over wrist and forearm. “Goo
d. Now close the box and step away.”

  Grentham grinned as he did so. “Sure you don’t want to put it on here?”

  Goryo stared hard into the other man’s eyes. “I’m aware of the bonding process, which would make that decidedly dangerous, even if I was able to trust your motives fully.”

  “Well, I guess you can’t give that one back, at least not voluntarily.”

  Goryo stepped forward and took the box, then backed out toward the front door. “Indeed. Thank you for your obedience.” He turned and left, moving quickly to enter an autonomous vehicle he had arranged earlier. Within moments, he was blocks away.

  Grentham yelled a string of curses at sufficient volume that he was sure people heard him halfway down the block. When he’d gotten himself under control, he pulled out his phone and called his partner. “Our friend visited to get some supplies. He’s in the wind. I think any obligation we had to him, other than finding him and killing him when all this is over, is done.”

  Jared Trenton replied, “Good. We’ll start thinking about how to do that right after we figure out the plan to take out those costumed bastards who have been getting in the way of our operations. That’s a conversation for tomorrow, at the office. For now, meet at The Armory, half an hour?”

  Grentham sighed. “Yeah, I could use a drink. See you there.”

  Chapter Seven

  The entry into the mountain was uneventful, and the path beyond led downward in a gentle spiral. The passage was narrow, the ceiling only a foot higher than Ruby’s head, and offered a pronounced feeling of claustrophobia with rough-hewn walls less than an arm’s reach away to the left and right. After an hour of walking, they arrived at what appeared to be a resting place, an area carved into the outer side of the passageway suitably large for three or four people to relax in comfort. They agreed to forge on, both eager to get to the task ahead.

  When they came to the next opportunity to step off the path an hour later, Ruby was annoyed, hungry, and in need of a break from the plodding monotony of putting one foot in front of the other. She collapsed onto the floor, and her teacher laughed. “Giving up already, minari?

  Ruby shook her head. “Not at all. Refueling for what’s to come.” She handed over one of several protein bars she’d brought along and tore into another.

  Keshalla sat beside her and took a small bite with a grimace. “I don’t know how you eat these things. We should’ve made some decent trail bread.”

  Ruby nodded. She was a big fan of the heavy, dried fruit and nut-filled provisions that were the Mist Elves’ historical road food. “Yeah, but we didn’t have time, so quit complaining.” She drank from one of the canteens she’d brought along and shared it with her teacher. “So, what else do you know about what’s coming for us?”

  Keshalla lifted an eyebrow. “Technically, we are going to it, not the other way around.” Ruby stuck out her tongue, and her mentor replied with an imperious nod. “In any case, no one knows much. I will share the legend if you think you can behave long enough to hear it.”

  She made a show of considering the question, then shrugged. “I’ll do my best. No promises.”

  The other woman rolled her eyes and drank from the canteen before continuing. “So, once upon a time, a solitary Mist Elf locked himself away from the rest of our people with the intent of focusing purely on his magical research.”

  She interrupted, “I can see the appeal of that. My roommates are always distracting me when I try to work on a project.”

  Her teacher scowled. “Yes, isn’t it annoying when you’re interrupted?”

  Ruby laughed. “Boom. Point for you. I’ll shut up.”

  “Gods be praised. Anyway, it’s believed he created a series of defenses to protect himself from outsiders, and when they were complete, sent a message to the nearby villages telling them to leave him alone.”

  She interrupted again, “But they didn’t.”

  “You’re very wise.” The sarcastic tone left her teacher’s voice as she continued, “In any case, yes, many did try to find him, either as a game for unwise children, a rite of passage for young adults, or possibly for more nefarious purposes on the part of the adults who made the attempt. After all, who knows what he might have created in his hermitage, right?” Ruby nodded but remained silent, earning her a nod of approval from Keshalla. “Most of the latter didn’t return, and the younger ones who did make it back never tried again. As with the venamisha, something prevented them from being able to talk about the experience afterward, so we don’t fully know.”

  “Magic that causes people to forget your defenses is a great plan if you want to keep them from sharing knowledge to figure out your tricks and traps. I wonder if I could get one of those for my roommates.”

  Keshalla ignored her comment. “In the end, a mystic had a dream about him. In it, the hermit spoke of the one who would eventually discover his secrets, and the mystics chose to believe it was a true foretelling.”

  “And it said?”

  “I’m paraphrasing, but the vision showed the person as young, with a foot on both sides of reality, a conqueror of battles of might, wit, and wisdom, fully capable of undertaking the horrific battle that awaits those who quest for his knowledge.”

  Ruby scowled. “That doesn’t sound particularly positive.”

  Keshalla shrugged. “The mystics predicted it would be someone with an unusual mental state, possibly multiple personalities. They were looking primarily for news of anyone who had returned damaged from the world in between. Now they know it’s an average crazy person. Namely, you.”

  She replied dryly, “Ha, ha, ha. This mystic thing seems more like a dice roll than a science.”

  “Very possible.”

  Ruby was silent for a moment, then another. Finally, she asked, “Did anyone mention what kind of defenses the hermit created? Because that scraping sounds like it’s getting louder.” Both women climbed to their feet and peered down the passageway, but its curve prevented them from seeing anything.

  Keshalla replied, “I already told you no information got out. Still, it certainly seems as if we might have discovered the outer layer of his protection.” She drew her daggers, more appropriate than a sword for the corridor’s confined area.

  Ruby pulled out hers and summoned a force buckler on her other arm. “All right. Let’s go find whoever is making that irritating noise and make them stop.”

  Sound traveled strangely through the structure because it was ten more minutes before the passage emerged into a chamber. It was almost shocking, after the unbroken uniformity of most of their descent, to see the large open space. It was a perfect dome, the top arcing high above, smooth walls descending to a flat surface of polished stone. A glowing ball that hovered near the uppermost point of the room provided illumination. It was empty except for what had once been a Mist Elf male but was now something more. Or less, maybe.

  He wore only tattered trousers that left most of his body on display. It was a mixture of flesh and metal, arranged with no particular logic, almost as if the foreign substance had grown from within according to some design only it understood. The scraping came from a heavy metal chain wrapped around his torso that dragged on the floor behind him as he moved slowly through the space. His path was seemingly random, as he changed direction in fits and starts. One abrupt turn caused the chain to whip out like a weapon, whistling through the air.

  Ruby said, “Okay, that’s really weird, and that chain is deeply worrisome. Very dangerous. You go first.”

  Keshalla shook her head and traded her daggers for swords. Ruby followed suit, drawing her sword and gripping her spell dagger in her offhand. Her teacher observed, “We should come at him from different sides. One has to assume there’s more than the chain if he’s supposed to be an actual deterrent.”

  “Maybe his purpose is only to scare off potential intruders?”

  “Perhaps. It would make far more sense to have him do both, and it is a magical scientist we’re talking ab
out here. Except for you, I’ve found all of those I’ve encountered to be highly logical.”

  Ruby nodded and let the jibe pass unanswered. “Okay. I’ll go left. You go right.” She moved without waiting for a response. The figure didn’t react, simply kept moving as if she wasn’t there. Well, hell, this almost seems unfair. The thought had barely crossed her mind when the ambushers struck. Large slabs of stone, previously invisible due to their perfect integration with the walls, fell inward to reveal four more flesh-and-metal figures.

  The two nearest Ruby rushed her, and she had a moment to realize they each had a large, pointed spike in place of a forearm and a hand and carried a small shield in the other. The circular bucklers were etched with runes and shone in defiance of their likely age. A yelp escaped her, and she charged back the way she had come, not wanting to put herself between the chain-dragger and the other two. Her teacher did the same on the opposite side of the room.

  It segmented the enemies neatly, two of the newcomers going after Keshalla, two of them rushing her. She settled her weight and positioned her sword in a diagonal guard, then thrust the dagger toward the nearest to dispatch a force bolt at him. The magic flew out, causing the air to ripple from its passage, and her foe lifted the shield to block it. The impact slowed him but didn’t stop him. Ruby yelled, “The shields can absorb a portion of power cast at them.”

  Her teacher shouted back, “Got it. The metal parts of their bodies aren’t impervious, but it would take quite a while to hack through them. Aim for the flesh.”

  Ruby stepped to her right to ensure the closest enemy was between her and the one she’d struck with her magic. She sent a force blast at his feet, and he reacted by leaping into the air and whipping a metal leg around at her head far faster than she expected he could. Her only defense was to collapse to the floor, and she turned the move into a foot sweep, her heel connecting with his flesh-and-bone foot to topple him. She spun up in time to catch the other man’s spike on her sword, the direct impact of strength against strength sending pain through her hand and arm.