“Doing this won’t bring her back.”
As soon as I said it, I knew I had made a mistake.
“Save your fucking empty platitudes,” he growled and wrapped his hand around the Taurus. “What’s next? ‘Time will make it easier’? ‘I’ll get over it’? ‘I should choose life’? ‘It’s not what she would’ve wanted for me’? ‘I need more time to grieve’?”
“Yes, you do. I feel—”
“Shut up, Strong,” George rasped, his throaty rumble cutting through my words. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. My life is ash. Every day. Every single day is grief. Fuck your feelings. No parent should ever have to bury a child.”
“You know she wouldn’t want this for you.” I let my hand drift over to Grim Whisper. George’s eyes had shifted over into ‘deadman walking’ mode. I’d seen it a few times during my time in the Company. “She wouldn’t want you to throw your life away.”
Whenever we faced overwhelming odds and there was little chance of walking away, George would shift into this mode. His eyes would go flat, and we knew. He had made peace with death. Over time, the entire squad became known as Rottweiler’s Deadmen.
“Life? What life?” George asked, taking a step forward. “You know what I want? I want to wake up in the morning and be able to hug my daughter, but I can’t. Do you know why I can’t, Strong?”
“George I…” The words escaped me.
“I can’t hold my little girl…because a dragon ended her. I’m never going to see her smile again or hear her laugh.” His voice dropped to barely above a whisper as he looked out over the river, momentarily lost in a memory. “She had a great laugh, just like her mother.”
His face darkened as he turned to look at me again.
“You don’t know what you’re facing,” I said, calmly trying to change the direction of the conversation. “The dragon that kill—took Cassandra from you was nothing compared to what may be waiting downtown. You can’t do this alone.”
“Who said I was alone?” He glanced over at Crazy Eyes Sal. “Let me introduce you to my associate, Sal.”
“I’ve heard about your demigod friend Sal,” I said without looking at Crazy Eyes Sal. I kept my eyes on George because I knew, when it happened, it would start with him.
“Not bad,” George said with a nod. “What you may not have discovered at the Hybrid is that Sal is short for Salao.”
“He’s salty? Sounds like a personal issue. They have creams for that. Have him see a dermatologist.”
George smiled, and my stomach clenched. It was a promise of mayhem and death. “You know how I knew you were scared shitless on missions?”
“My reluctance to run headlong into certain death?”
“You’d try to be funny. I never found you funny, Strong, but here’s a fun fact. Something I find genuinely humorous.”
We had stepped so far into the twilight zone I half expected to see Rod Serling sitting on a bench.
“Sal here also happens to be the son of a human and Jyeshtha”
Crazy Eyes Sal took a bow with a flourish.
“Oh, bloody hell,” Monty said behind me. “Simon, step back.”
“Looks like your mage knows,” George said with a laugh. “You really should read more.”
“Who the hell is Jye—?” I started when I saw the movement and heard Sal speak loudly in a language I didn’t understand. I drew Grim Whisper and fired at George. This was going to end now.
A wave of energy blasted me from Sal’s direction, and I saw two orbs of flame materialize in Monty’s hands.
I was standing two yards away from George. That’s when I noticed the pendant similar to my enso around his neck. It gave off a sickly yellow glow as my bullets missed him. For half a second my brain rebelled. How had I missed?
George slid to the side and pulled a forearm blade. I unsheathed Ebonsoul only to have it slip out of my fingers and tumble across the promenade.
“Get away from him, Simon!” Monty yelled as he unleashed his orbs. They flew wide and sailed into the river.
“Monty, what the hell?” I asked, backpedaling. “He’s right there in front of us.” I tripped backward and stumbled. Sal laughed as I landed on my back. I scrambled to my feet as gracefully as a rhino attempting ballet. My coordination was all over the place.
Peaches leaped, blinked out, and reappeared at the other end of the promenade. He smashed into the small maintenance hut headfirst, cratering it, and bounced onto the ground, slightly dazed. He shook it off and started stalking.
Peaches growled but kept his distance. In the chaos, I had taken my eyes off George. He focused my attention by sliding his blade into my abdomen and grabbing my hair.
I fell to my knees, accompanied by white-hot pain shooting through my body. “It won’t be enough,” I said through gritted teeth as I held back George’s thrust with both hands. My body flushed hot to deal with the damage. “They’re stronger than the both of you.”
“I know,” George said, leaning forward and pressing on the blade with his body weight. “I have an equalizer.”
“It doesn’t matter what you have,” I said with a groan. “Monty, fry this bastard.”
“I can’t,” Monty said, extinguishing the orbs of flame in his hands. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Dangerous? Burn him!”
Salao laughed again. “You’d be wise to listen to him, human.”
“Simon, I might hit you.”
“You what, ahh!” George twisted the blade. “That’s not…really helping.”
“Focus, Strong.” George slapped me across the face. “I’ve done my homework. I know this won’t kill you, at least not right away.”
“Then you know I’m coming for you.”
“No. You aren’t. I’m going to finish what they started.”
“Even if it costs you everything?”
He punched me in the face and drove the blade in deeper. “You’re still not focusing. Once they stole Cass from me, they took it all. I have nothing left and nothing left to lose.”
“Not…true.” I felt the world swim away and come back into focus with sudden pain. “Fuck…you.”
“Stay with me, Strong. I don’t think we’re going to have another conversation after today.”
“You can’t do this, there’s a…there’s a Kragzimik out there. Trust me, you’re no match for—”
“Fairy tales!” yelled Sal. “Kragzimiks are extinct. Have been for centuries. Stop listening to this…this human. We need to go. Let my men finish them.”
George removed the blade with a sideways motion reminiscent of seppuku. I looked up into his eyes, and I knew. He never intended to walk away from this. They were the eyes of a man who wanted to see the world burn and was willing to burn with it.
“They’ll know my pain, my daily agony.” George grabbed my hair, pulled my head back, and locked eyes with me. “I’m going to bring death to their lives. I’m going to kill everything that’s important to them. Then, at the end—I’m going to erase them.”
He lifted me to my feet, looked down, and saw my curse had healed the wound.
“I told you,” I said with a gasp. “I’ll be coming for you. Both of you.”
“You may be healed, but you’re not in fighting condition.” George nodded to Sal. “We’re done here. Let’s go.”
Sal gestured and opened a rift. “This is your last day, gentlemen. I promise my men will make your end swift.”
“Don’t do me any favors, really.”
George shoved me back, and I tumbled down the stairs. By the time I stopped rolling, they were gone.
TWENTY-ONE
MONTY STOOD NEXT to me and drew the Sorrows. Peaches stood over me and growled. My body felt like a furnace from
dealing with my injuries. I wiped the sweat pouring into my eyes.
“How many?” I stood unsteadily, using my hellhound for support. “I need to get Ebonsoul.”
“And do what? Shave?” Monty gestured, and Ebonsoul appeared at my feet. “He’s right. You’re in no condition to fight.”
“How did I miss him at point-blank range? I never miss.” I sheathed Ebonsoul. “How did you miss?”
He sheathed the Sorrows and raised a finger. “Shhh, let me focus.”
“Go ahead, focus away while we get shredded by Sal’s ‘men’ that aren’t really men.”
“Can you walk?” Monty scanned the area around us and formed two orbs of flame. “We need to move.”
“You want to take a stroll on John Finley Walk?”
“The mansion. It has wards, and we can hold off the impending attack there. If we remain here, we will be overrun. It’s not far from here.”
“Overrun? That sounds bad.”
“Because it is. Let’s move.”
The imagery made me laugh, and the pain shut it down immediately. I had to stop to catch a breath.
“Whew, I’m feeling old. No offense.”
“None taken, I’m still young by mage standards. Pick up the pace. They’re coming.”
“I’m moving as fast as I can, I just got seppukued, you know,” I snapped. “The next time someone tries to cut you in half, I’d like to see how fast you run afterwards.”
“I’m aware of your wound.” He turned and unleashed several orbs into the trees behind us. Howls of pain filled the park. “Would you like to explain your difficulties to Sal’s minions? I’m sure they would lend you a sympathetic ear, as they reopen the wound and leave your bloody carcass in the park.”
“First off,” I said, raising a finger and increasing my pace because the howls were getting closer, “I wouldn’t be a bloody carcass. Second, that was a little dark, even for you.”
“It’s the middle of the morning, and this park is empty. That doesn’t seem odd to you?”
He was right. The Esplanade was usually full of early morning joggers by now.
“Could they have sealed the park?”
“It’s likely,” he said, gesturing again. “And filled the grounds with dampening runes. The mansion is the only place that feels free of these runes.”
“Monty, what exactly is coming after us? I’m just curious since we seem to be running for our lives.”
“I think they’re drakes.” He looked at my wound. “Are you fully healed yet?”
“I know the curse is working, because my body’s on fire. I wonder if this is what a menopausal hot flash feels like?” I wiped the sweat from my face. “It’s like I took a bath in lava.”
“I could always hit you with an orb if you want the full experience.”
“Pass,” I said, limping faster. “It’s taking a little longer than usual to get back up to speed though. Wait, what do you mean you think they’re drakes? What are drakes doing with Salao?”
“Yes, I think,” Monty snapped. “Would you like me to stop and conduct an in-depth interview?”
“No thank you, let’s get inside.”
We made our way through some trees and came up on the rear of the mansion.
“If these are Sal’s ‘men,’ and I use the term loosely, are we dealing with more of whatever was happening back there?”
“Unlikely. It seems that our mishaps were created by Sal and channeled into that pendant worn by George.” He patted his pockets and found the small pouch with tea leaves. “Perhaps there’s a cup I can use inside the mansion?”
He pocketed the pouch of leaves and I wondered if Sal had done something to him that I’d missed.
“You need a cup? For your tea? Sure, maybe you can find a cup inside the mansion and finish your tea. It’s not like I’m dealing with an evisceration or anything. Don’t mind me.”
“I’m trying my best not to.” Monty pointed to a door at the rear of the mansion. “There. We can get in through there.”
I tried the door. “Locked. Do you want to…you know…?” I wiggled my fingers. “Blast it open?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I’m still feeling the effects of whatever Sal unleashed on us. How about your creature?”
“He doesn’t have opposable thumbs, so how do you want him to open the door?”
“He doesn’t have opposable thumbs, but he has an incredibly dense skull, like someone else I know.”
“Oh, hilarious.” I winced and hunched over as I moved near the mansion. “Go ahead, make fun of the injured.”
“If you’re still injured, I’ll drink a cup of coffee, black.”
I tried to imagine the danger a caffeinated Monty would pose to the Tri-state area and shuddered at the thought.
“Fine.” I straightened up. “Don’t even kid about you and caffeine.”
Monty looked at Peaches. “Have him tap the door without teleporting. Remind him we’d like to stay inside the mansion, not stand in its rubble. He needs to use as little force as possible, but still get past the wards without destroying everything.”
I cocked my head to one side and stared at Monty in disbelief.
“Really? You’re giving advice on how not to obliterate a structure?”
“Tell him,” Monty said, facing into the park with more orbs in his hands. “Sooner rather than later would be preferable.”
Peaches stepped to the door and dropped his head so it bumped against the door. The wards on the doorframe exploded with orange light. The door itself flew into the mansion and smashed against a wall.
We stepped in, and Monty stopped at the threshold. “Let’s reinforce the integrity of these wards, shall we?” He gestured, and the door flew back into place. Another motion of his hand and a lattice of orange light filled the doorway, reinforcing it. “That should secure that one.”
“You owe him sausage,” I said, stepping farther into Gracie Mansion. “And me, an explanation. You could start with how I missed George at point-blank range.”
“One second.” He gestured again, and an orange sphere erupted from the center of the floor. It grew until it enclosed the mansion. “That will give us some time to formulate a plan.”
“What was that?” I looked out the window. Everything was orange tinted through the sphere of energy. “When did you learn that?”
“Something LD taught me.”
“How strong is that force field?”
“One moment.” Monty raised a finger and headed to the kitchen as a fireball slammed into the sphere, protecting the mansion. It raced across the surface for a few feet before dissipating. The smell of sulphur reached my nostrils. Peaches shook his head at the odor. Monty found a kettle and began boiling water. “This will do.”
Monty gestured again and formed two enormous bratwurst, much to Peaches’ delight. They floated over to a corner, with a salivating hellhound in hot pursuit. When they fell to the floor Peaches pounced, sending micro tremors through the floor.
Monty pulled out his pouch of leaves and rummaged through the kitchen cabinets for a cup.
“What are you doing?” I asked, staring at him. “We have incoming. A mob of incoming from the sounds of it. I don’t think they’re here for high tea.”
“Too early for high tea,” he said, mostly to himself.
“What I need are biscuits.”
“Biscuits? Tell me that’s code for a drake-melting spell. You know, like a Fiery Biscuit of Destruction.”
“Biscuits. To eat,” he said, moving a strand of hair from his face. “I need some time to process. Some of these castings are working. Others feel tenuous.”
“We have drakes coming in, Monty.” I drew Grim Whisper and checked the magazine. “Angry dragon-type beings? Ring a bell?”
“You’ll be fine.” He opened the cupboard. “Now, where would they keep biscuits? I thought people lived here?”
I looked at him. “Are you planning on inviting drakes in for tea? Haven’t you heard there’s no ‘I’ in team?”
Monty gave up the search for biscuits, when the kettle signaled the boiling water with a high-pitched squeal. He poured the water into a cup and closed his eyes as the smell of Earl Grey filled the kitchen. He held the cup in his hand and inhaled more of the aroma.
“True, but I’m sure you’re aware that there’s a ‘T,’ ‘E,’ and ‘A’ in team?” he asked, looking at me. “Now, allow me to focus.”
TWENTY-TWO
“WHAT COULD YOU possibly be focusing on that’s not drake-related?” I looked out the window again. “Are we not concerned about the creatures coming to share the pain?”
“The sphere should hold them long enough for us to find a way out,” he said, peeking through the window. “How did Sal get drakes?”
“I’m more concerned about the ‘equalizer’ George mentioned. He seemed confident he could take on dragons.”
“There was that, as well.” Monty rubbed his chin. “Do you think he was bluffing?”
“Does George look like the kind of man who bluffs? If he says he has an equalizer, he has something powerful enough to level the playing field with dragons.”
“I don’t know of any artifact powerful enough, except perhaps the—” Monty’s expression hardened and grew dark. “Oh, bloody hell. We need to get out of here.”
“Sal opened a rift. Do you think—?”
Monty gestured and white runes drifted from his hands. They hung in the air for a few seconds before slamming into a window, shattering it.
He shook his head. “This may be a problem. Let me see if I can finish drinking my tea.”
Dragons & Demigods: A Montague & Strong Detective Novel (Montague & Strong Case Files Book 6) Page 12
