Even the head of the Whites who might or might not be a shade.
“You should keep quiet about things you don’t understand.” She managed to put plenty of menace in the words without raising her voice. Quite the trick.
“Good advice.” Unfortunately, I was bad at following any type of advice.
“I’ll look into you, Rune Russell, and I'll know more about you next time we talk. About this meeting—I want to make sure it goes smoothly.”
“It shouldn’t be a problem. Video conferencing software is very good these days.”
“So it doesn’t matter that I will be in South America and the other party in the meeting will also be off-site?”
“You’ll be in South America?”
“Yes.”
“But you are here.”
“The meeting is tomorrow and planes can fly at night.”
“Okay. So the meeting is hosted in Transkey, but no one in this building will be part of it.” Weird.
“I have asked a neutral third party to also take part. If he agrees, he will be present in Transkey.”
“Neutral third party? Is this a meeting or a war parley?”
“The subject of the meeting is not your concern.”
“And who are you having this meeting with?”
“You should already have that information,” Harriet said. “It’s Hugo Yarley.”
The person who, according to RedWhiteandTrue, led the Reds. Maybe it made sense that Harriet was going to be out of the country.
“Technically, there’s no problem,” I told her. “As long as all parties have a laptop and an internet connection, I can make it work. I’ll have to set up an hour before the meeting takes place with someone who knows their way around a computer. To make sure the laptop has all the correct software and settings.”
Harriet Ashley nodded. “Good. Make sure everything goes smoothly. Afterward, we’ll discuss who you are and what you know.”
She turned on her heel and returned to Findley’s office.
Great. Just what I wanted. To call attention to myself to a possible leader of the shades.
Ten months of successfully staying clear of the magical world was coming to an abrupt end.
Chapter 6
Tuesday 14:15
Jeffries was a multistory parking lot on the outskirts of Lusteer. The shopping center it was supposed to support had fallen through, making it a rather lonely and ugly sentinel, warning against poor planning. It wasn’t more than a decade old, but if it continued at the present rate of decline, it would look as derelict as Ten-two before much longer.
I had left Transkey early without telling anyone. For once, Findley would have something real to complain about.
I pressed a button to get a ticket and the barrier opened, then I began to loop up the ramps. The first level was relatively full, but only a few cars were parked on the second level.
Before I reached the third level, I realized something was wrong. I had decided to arrive forty-five minutes early, planning to get in position ahead of Alex and Jo, but, from the sound of blaring car alarms, I was arriving late. I twisted the throttle to full acceleration, but the scooter only ascended the ramp at barely above walking pace. Upon reaching the third level, I immediately searched for Red 45, but the area around there was empty. Farther away, two cars, their bumpers entwined, were using their alarms to shriek at each other.
I raced for the next up-ramp, and once I started ascending, I again cursed the Vespa as it slowed to a crawl. At the top, I blinked as I emerged into sunlight. The fourth level was on the rooftop.
At the other end of the parking lot, a battered black car scraped along the side of an outside barrier, sparks flying from its bodywork. A beast hovered behind the car, beating long wings. Despite being too far to make out the occupants clearly, I was certain they were Alex and Jo.
My heart thumped, but I couldn’t afford to hesitate. I aimed the scooter directly toward the beast and sped up.
The car swerved away from the wall, and the beast dived lower, its talons gouging the roof, tearing through the metal like it was soft fabric, and the car skidded against the concrete barrier once more. The windshield was gone, and through the front of the car I recognized Jo’s pale face as she clenched the steering wheel. In the passenger seat, Alex wore sunglasses and a hat. Hang on there, I mentally willed.
As the scooter sped past the car, I stood up on the floorboard, raised my arms and shouted, “Over here!”
It ignored me, flying over my head and diving at the car again. I regained my seat and lowered my foot to the ground as I pulled the Vespa in a hard turn.
The car was aiming for the down-ramp exit, but the beast crashed into the side of it, sending it spinning. The engine spluttered and cut off. The rear of the car broke through the barrier, and concrete debris hurtled into the sky. The car’s momentum slowed but not fast enough. The back of the car leaned downward, and both the rear and front wheels spun uselessly. Jo screamed. I gave the scooter full throttle, even though I knew I wouldn’t reach the car in time.
The car leaned back until it reached a tipping point, then swung forward again. The front of the car crashed back down on the tarmac. Jo climbed up over the steering wheel and clambered out through the broken windshield. The car began to topple back again, but Jo’s weight knocked it back onto its front wheels. Alex fumbled with his seat belt, then joined Jo on the hood.
The beast flapped its wings and slowly descended in front of the car. I charged the Vespa straight at it. It turned its beaked head toward me but didn’t seem concerned. Before reaching the beast, I twisted the Vespa to the side and rolled away from it across the tarmac.
With the harsh grating sound of tearing plastic, the scooter spun end over end. The beast rose into the air, letting the scooter pass beneath, then landing again.
I got to my feet and raced to stand in front of the hood of the car. “Stop!” I shouted. “Let’s talk about this.”
I wasn’t certain it could talk, but I had met a similar beast once before, though more wolf-like than eagle-like, and it had been able to transform into a human.
Grey and black feathers covered it, though strangely, purple robes wrapped around much of its body. The shape of its head and wings were that of a giant eagle, but it stood upright in a humanoid fashion. Its head height was similar to mine, though the folded wings spiked an extra yard above its head. Gray claws dug into the tarmac as it walked.
I wasn’t surprised when smoke drifted off the eagle’s feathers, thickening until a black cloud obscured the beast. I had seen a transformation like that before, though in reverse, when Sammy Williams had changed from a muscular man into a wolf-like creature.
When the haze cleared, the beast was gone, replaced by a thirty-something woman. Her head was shaved bald, and colorful tattoos spiraled across one arm. An initial flash of bare skin around her midriff was covered up as she pulled the purple robe tighter around her. The clothing left her shins and feet bare and hung shapelessly from her, but all considered, it was an ingenious piece of clothing.
“Isn’t this so much more pleasant?” I held out my hand. “My name is Rune.” That I had seen a beast transform before meant I was able to pretend I was calm, even as my insides quivered.
She looked distastefully at my hand. “And what do you want?”
“I’m just a friend of those in that car.” I glanced behind me. Alex had his arms around Jo’s shaking body. “You realize they are just children?”
“If they are old enough to cause trouble, they are old enough to suffer the consequences.”
“You have the wrong people.”
“I don’t.” The woman took a step closer to me. “Listen, I don’t know who you are, and I don’t particularly care. It’s them behind you I’ve come for.”
“You are willing to kill children?”
“If need be. I’d prefer to just bring them in to my boss so he can question them.”
“And your boss won’t kil
l them?”
“I have no idea what he plans to do.”
“And you don’t care?”
“It’s not my job to care.”
Tendrils of smoke wafted off her skin, and I saw she was about to transform back. “Wait. Surely there’s a way to solve this without violence.”
“I already advised them to come quietly. They tried to ram me with the car. Force them to surrender to me.”
“Can I get assurances that they won’t be hurt?” At a creaking noise, I turned to see the car topple backward and fall off the edge of the parking lot. Alex and Jo had jumped off the hood and were racing for the down-ramp.
The whole building shuddered as the car smashed against the ground. “Stop!” I shouted after the fleeing orphans, but they didn’t slow. Alex was leading the way, holding Jo’s hand. Why couldn’t they have waited?
The woman sighed. “They always run from me. Must be my bad breath.” Dark smoke swirled around her, and out of that darkness, the beast sprang into the air.
Alex and Jo were never going to escape from her. Not without help.
My heart raced, and heat rose up within me. I knew what that meant. I had sworn never to use magic again, but I couldn’t just let the beast take Alex and Jo.
I reached down deep inside me, focusing on the heat. Even though I had only done it once before, nearly a year ago, the magic leaped eagerly.
I thrust my arms forward, and a spout of flame shot from my hands.
The fire streaked just below the beast. It shrieked, tucking its claws close to its body, then it spun away to the left, twisting higher.
It turned and dived toward me. I raised my arms, and a sheet of fire formed above me. The beast soared higher, and flew above me, landing on the concrete barrier beyond where the car had broken though. As I released the flames, it transformed back into a woman.
“What are you?” she shouted at me.
“As far as you are concerned, I am death.” Idiot, I told myself. That’s the kind of stupid shit that comes from reading too many comics.
“He doesn’t like for us to fight amongst ourselves,” she said.
“I don’t want to fight either. Just leave us alone.”
“We will meet again.” She leaned back and allowed herself to fall off, disappearing from view. A moment later giant gray wings beat strongly as the beast rose high into the air, and I watched it fade into the far distance.
I felt no spark of satisfaction at seeing it flee. By having to use my magic, I was the one who had truly lost.
Chapter 7
Tuesday 14:40
I rushed over to Alex and Jo, threw one arm around each and hugged them close. “Are you both okay?”
“What in the name of all in that is holy was that?” Alex exclaimed when I released them.
I glanced over my shoulder to where it was still visible in the sky though only as a speck. “A werebeast.”
“Not that,” Alex said. “What you did with the fire.”
“Oh.” I didn’t want to get into my magic. I was just glad that I hadn’t created an uncontrollable fire afterward like I had last time. “I’m not sure. I guess it’s just necessity brought it out. I remember reading about an old farmer who jumped a six-foot fence when his bull chased him.”
“Did the farmer have fire shooting out of his ass when he made the jump, because otherwise this isn’t the same.”
“Alex, Rune just saved us,” Jo said.
“Doesn’t mean we have to swallow his bull story.”
“Let’s get out of here.” I ran over to where the Vespa lay on its side. I righted it and climbed on. Despite the crash, it started first time. I rode it over to the orphans. Jo climbed on behind, wrapping her arms around me. Alex scowled, then climbed behind Jo.
I directed the Vespa toward the down-ramp. In contrast with coming up, the scooter had no problem picking up speed going down, especially not with the extra weight on the back. Jo’s arms tightened around me as I almost went into the first wall. I leaned heavily on the brake from then on when descending through the levels.
On the final down-ramp, I started to feel queasy. My stomach churned. The Vespa wobbled back and forth just as I came to the barrier. I stopped and put my foot down.
“Rune, are you okay?” Jo asked.
“Yes.” My stomach lurched and I fought back the urge to puke. I fumbled in my pocket until I found the ticket. I hadn’t been in the parking lot long enough to require payment so the barrier opened immediately. I drove out of the parking lot, pulled the scooter to the side then stopped.
“Alex, get off,” Jo said. “Rune’s injured.”
Alex and Jo climbed off. “Did the shifter wound you?” Alex asked.
“No.” The sick feeling faded. “I think I just felt dizzy.” I glanced across at a grassy area alongside the parking lot where the smashed up car lay upside down. Several people had gathered around it, though no police or emergency services had yet arrived.
“Where did you get the car?” I asked Alex.
“Borrowed.”
Alex wasn’t a huge respecter of ownership; even the decorations on the wall above his bed proclaimed that. “It doesn’t look to be in returnable condition,” I said.
“That wasn’t my fault,” he said. “I didn’t destroy it. The shifter did.”
“The owner might see things differently. Or the police. Care to explain exactly how this happened?”
“Not really,” Alex said.
The hat had fallen off Alex’s head but he still wore the sunglasses. I pulled them off his head and threw them away. “What kind of idiocy was this?”
“It wasn’t idiocy,” Alex said.
“It looks stupid now,” Jo said. “But we had it all planned out.”
“All what planned out?” I asked.
“We have to tell him,” Jo told Alex. “About justice warrior. The shifter may come for us again.”
“Justice warrior?”
“Rune expects us to tell him everything and he tells us nothing.” Alex sighed. “Fine. We set up a Twitter account to message RedWhiteandTrue. Called the account JusticeWarrior11. Via retweets, we became associated with the RedWhiteandTrue account but never directly communicated with it. Another Twitter handle, one that also seemed to be on our side, got in contact with us. They promised information about how our parents were killed.”
“Let me guess, they insisted on meeting in person,” I said. “I thought you two were smarter than this. I didn’t think I needed to teach you the basics of safety.”
“Stranger danger, is that what you think you needed to tell us, Rune?” Alex asked. “We aren’t children. We knew the risks.”
“We took precautions,” Jo said. “We set up a camera at the entrance to the parking lot, and we were watching on my laptop.” She glanced at the broken car. “I guess laptops aren’t built to survive four story falls.”
“No more than cars,” I said. “No more than people.”
“If more than one person entered, if it looked like a trap, we would have aborted the meeting,” Jo said.
“We couldn’t have known that she’d turn into a creature that would be able to defeat a car,” Alex said.
“You are investigating shades and never thought that one of them might come after you?” I asked.
“We can’t all shoot fire out of our hands. Risks must be taken. If we already knew the truth of that night...”
I sighed. Was Alex ever going to let up? “So you arranged to meet here at, what, two o’clock?” I looked at Jo. “That would mean that the meeting would be over at three o’clock.”
“If everything went well,” Jo said.
“If everything went well,” I repeated, glaring at Jo. She had deliberately given me a wrong time. She probably figured I’d come half an hour, three quarters of an hour early and, if things were going badly, I could help. Jo was the master of strategies when she played board games, and I guess she had seen this as a good back up plan.
“How
did you turn up?” Alex had been watching our interaction. “Jo told you, didn’t she?”
“I certainly did not,” Jo replied quickly.
“I did a bit of detective work,” I told Alex, thinking of how I’d rubbed the pencil across the pad. “You aren’t the only one who can show initiative.”
“And of course you aren’t going to share...”
A stab of pain tore through me. I fell to one knee clutching my midriff.
“Rune.” Jo gripped my arm. “Are you okay, Rune?”
“Get away from me!” I roared. “Both of you, get away from me.” I grabbed at Jo’s hand and ripped it loose. “I’m dangerous.”
Jo and Alex both backed away. The pain faded as fast as it had arrived. “Are you two okay?”
They both nodded.
“Jo, are you sure you’re okay?” She had touched me just as the pain tore through me.
“I feel fine, Rune. What is it?”
“Probably nothing.” The magic hadn’t had the same consequences as the last time. A police car arrived on the scene, its siren sounding, giving me an idea.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said. I reached out my arm and flagged down a taxi. “Can I trust you two to make it back to Ten-two and wait there?”
“We can do that.” Jo climbed into the back of the taxi.
“What are you going to do?” Alex asked.
I took some money from my wallet and stuffed it into Alex’s hand. “Just get Jo back to Ten-two. I’ll be there shortly.”
Alex nodded, then climbed in behind Jo. I watched the taxi drive away, then climbed onto the Vespa and directed it into traffic.
The flying beast and her boss clearly weren’t done with the two orphans. I’d need to figure out what was going on if I was to protect them.
Although I was swimming in unknown waters, I knew someone who was immersed in both the magical and the criminal worlds.
Chapter 8
Tuesday 15:25
Bibi’s Doughnuts was located in a small outlet center with a Chinese takeaway and a liquor store on either side of it. I parked the Vespa and walked across the small parking lot. As I grabbed the door of the handle, I stumbled. A wave of weakness ran through my body, and my legs almost gave way. I used the door handle to hold myself upright until the weakness passed.
Fire Sorcerer (The Sentinels Book 1) Page 3
