"But, anyway, we didn't get much further as Aurel's attention turned to dragons. Or, I should say Dragon Steel. My sweetie's brain was over-run by studies on how to forge and perfect the metal."
David and I gave her blank stares. "Dragon Steel. Once it's fully developed, it will be the only substance to guard against a dragon's 'warm' breath." She stood up from the circle, her artwork complete. "Although it doesn't look likely that this will happen now. Aurel was a master metallurgist. Only his son, Orville, would be a worthy replacement for his father. But, I understand Nugget Junior is busy with Futura 2. Commerce wins over universal affairs. And what a delightfully strange phenomenon that is!"
She motioned for us to gather around the circle. "In about two minutes the moon will begin its phase into full lunar eclipse. A few last minute preparations to be done. " She flicked her wrists at each of the walls. The walls immediately reflected the room, and its occupants. Carpathia excepted, of course. In her hand, she held a compass. Each cardinal point directed at each corresponding mirror.
The moon, in resplendent silvery glory, peeked its arcing head over the Sugar Dunes.
"Lights, please," Carpathia requested. The lights clicked off, and the room was flooded with lunar light.
My heart was pounding. I knew nothing about the Presences. Other than that they were ancient and preposterously wise.
"Cait Sidhe clan, please sit on Millie's chest." My cats looked at her. I was quite certain that they were going to argue that they were quite comfortable in their current locations, thank you very much. Not even a vampire gets to tell a cat where it can and can't sit.
"Now, please, kitties," She tried again.
Midnight and Onyx moved to Millie's chest and looked down at her sleeping face. That's it? Just 'Now, please, kitties?' For me, it takes an atomic bomb to get their furry rumps moving.
"It has commenced," Onyx's small face was staring at the lunar giant through the window. What appeared to be a small slice from the middle of the planetary orb was now gone. Clipped out neatly, as if by grand design.
Carpathia began to chant. Her syllables getting ever wilder and louder as her incantation progressed. An oozy white foam spewed from her black lips.
"Ew, Gross!" Midnight protested from Millie's chest.
"Be silent, brother!" Onyx hissed.
The slimy white goo grew before our eyes. Filling the room with two (almost) humanoid figures. The opaqueness of the slime grew thinner, and after a few seconds left two Presences in the room. Both glittering like starlight and moonbeams; one dark, one light. Their size was enormous; large enough so that they had to bend their translucent heads just to fit in the tight space.
Onyx bowed deeply. "We greet thee, o Mighty Presences,"
"For the love of Bran, will you knock off the Shakespeare, O?" Midnight snapped.
Two wind-blown voices spoke in unison then, eery like whispering chimes. They faced their audience and dipped their sparkling heads at each of us in turn.
"Night scholar, Hidden Angel, Beloved Protector. Helios and Hecate greet thee."
"Presences, My friend and this feline suffers. There is imbalance." Carpathia pointed to Midnight and Millie.
“To live is to suffer.” Came the spooky wind-chime voice.
"This isn't the usual life's suffering, though. This is an imbalance " David chipped in. Rather bravely, I might add
“Imbalance. That too is the way of life.”
“Oh, for Bast’s sake!” Midnight exploded from his perch on Millie’s chest. “I can’t sleep while Millie here is in a total coma. You digging it, Mr. Cryptic?!”
Apparently, that was all that was needed to break through the interdimensional culture gap. The figures drew closer to Midnight and Millie and settled into a quavering cloud of star particles above them.
Millie began to stir, while Midnight settled in for a nap atop her chest.
"We have given you only temporary relief. We are not a cure for the human malady. We can merely point the way. However, in this instance, we have given you a helping hand." The Presences stated.
Jumping on their streak of generosity I asked: "Is it a balefire beacon that's causing all this disturbance?"
“The fire that burns all ways, yes. Ignited by Unseelie hands, stoked by suffering, with malice as the fuel.”
“Where is this beacon?” David asked. "How do we get to it?"
“The Hidden Angel." The Presences turned to me. "The one with the paper key. Follow the lifeless and lively marker. "
"The map!" I exclaimed. David gave me a blank stare.
"The tube that Shade and Midnight sto ... um, appropriated, it holds a map similar to those in Portia's cellar. There's a little glyph that flashes on and off. Or 'lifeless and lively.' It must be the marker to the balefire beacon!" I pulled out on my phone, holding up a finger to David and the cats. Their questions could wait. "Jet! Thank goodness you answered. And you're just the kitty I need." I murmured my instructions into the phone, hung up and faced my inquisitive friends. The sparkling dust clouds were reverting to the sickly white foam and retreating into Carpathia's mouth.
"Your questions will be answered in approximately ..." I looked at my phone clock. "Thirty seconds or less?" I offered.
There was a scratching at the door. I tiptoed over and opened it, knowing full well who would be there.
"Sweetie, you're the best," I picked up my zippy cat, pulling the map tube from his mouth. Jet's eyes, like expanding black coals darted around the room. His breathing was labored, and he clung on to me in the tightest cat hug I've had from him to date. I threw the tube to David so he could unravel it, and so I could reassure my cat that the outside world wasn't going to kill him. So my moggie has mental health issues. Don't we all?
David laid out the map. I moved over to it and turned on my Fae Sight. The pulsing blue glyph was still there. Winking in and out of existence off the coast of Bonemark, at the edges of the Harbinger Ocean. Carpathia came to and joined us around the chart.
"Look, I know you can't see this, but you're going to have to trust me. There's a marker right ... here." I stabbed my finger on the shiny blue cipher.
"Fae Sight?" David asked. I nodded.
"I believe this is where the balefire beacon is. So, now we need to get there."
"Well, Fraulein Jenkins, " Carpathia cooed, sidling up beside me. "I can, in fact, see the glyph in question. And, I can add that it's pointing to the shoals of Atlantean. Where, rumor has it anyway, there is a magic gate or portal."
"The portal to Mag Mell?" It was Jet's suggestion, and just by uttering it made his paws wrap more tightly around my neck.
The room fell silent.
"Only one way to find out," David confessed. "We just need a boat. Brooms don't work over this quadrant. Nor transportation charms."
"There is a scent on this document." Carpathia sniffed the air, interrupting us. "One is the document's original owner; Norris Copperhead. I passed him in the corridor at the club today, and his fragrance is unmistakable. Then there is Hattie's perfume." The vampire smiled at me, batting her eyelashes. "The other aroma I'm puzzled about."
We looked at her.
"Why would Hagatha Jinx have touched this map?"
David and I left Howling Mercy hospital together, leaving Midnight and Onyx to stay by my assistants side for a spell. Their affection would help her recover faster. Millie was awake and scratching her feline guardians into purring puddles. I felt happy my friend and beloved cat was going to be okay. For now, at least. I'm sure the Presences had gone above and beyond their usual call of duty. Carpathia had explained to us after that they weren't really in the business of meddling into human or even universal affairs. They merely reflected the STATE of them. However, they were kind enough to endow us with some of their power to correct the imbalance and get our friends out of trouble. I suspected, although they were never supposed to pick sides, that they had just a slight bias toward the 'good' side.
While we walked, we ta
lked about what we had so far.
"So, what do you make of Carpathia smelling Hagatha Jinx on the map?" I questioned my gorgeous friend.
"We've got nothing on Hagatha, Hat. You know she was in Bonemark before Aurel was found dead. If Nugget was killed by Snake-Iron, then it rules her out, given how fast acting the element is."
"Hmm," I nodded my head. It was true. The obnoxious little witch was coming up clean. For now.
"Do you think Aurel's death has anything to do with this balefire beacon, then? Think he might have somehow found out about it, and was 'silenced?'"
“I don't know about that. But, if Aurel DID know about the beacon, how much time would he have wasted telling Portia about it? We know that, as of yet, Portia doesn't even KNOW about the beacon."
"Fair point." I scratched my chin. "Okay, let's go back to what we do know," I tried. David contributed first.
"Right, Aurel was killed by something we presume to be Snake-Iron. According to all metallurgy experts, a Snake-Iron killing takes less than thirty minutes. So, if we are going by those numbers, then that means we have to rule out both Hagatha and Norris Copperhead. Although, why the latter has possession of a rather suspicious map, is beyond me. We will need to question him on this, but it’s tricky seeing as the chart in question was STOLEN,” I ignored the chief’s barb and blundered on.
"But, what if it was a different kind of Snake-Iron? Remember, we still haven't identified that darker gray powder. And, you’ve already hinted as such. Could that be the culprit?"
David looked at me. “Maude passed word to the desk that she’ll need one more night of lab work before she can give us the definitive answer to that." The chief stopped walking.
“We have to remember that Aurel also had a fractured skull. It could have caused simply by his fall to the floor, or it could have been a blow to the head."
"So you think he was killed by brute force then?"
David shrugged. “The Snake-Iron poison could have been insurance to make sure Aurel was really and finally dead." He suggested.
“Well, apparently our killer had enough time to stage that obscene orgy of evidence back there at the lab. But, anyway, you can't be right about the head injury. Maude's already confirmed that it was Aurel's heart giving up that killed him." We picked up the pace again.
"You know, it seems that Aurel Nugget was loved by everyone. There isn't a testimony in sight that suggests the man was ever NOT liked. Okay, Hagatha excepted, but, we have nothing on her, sadly."
David nodded. "Slimy Copperhead was one of Nugget's fondest appreciators."
"Yeah, I know," I said thoughtfully. "Apart from the fact that he was on Pandora for a family vacation, it doesn't seem very likely that you'd elect your best friend -- publicly, no less -- as your infant's Godfather, and then exterminate him shortly after."
"Right," David said. "And, again, he wasn't even on Glessie forty-eight hours either side of Aurel dying."
“Okay, so what about the bits of evidence we found outside? I doubt that we were meant to find either the bone charm or the…what should we call it...pseudo-Snake-Iron.?"
David hummed. “Our murderer was careless enough with the staging of the scene. So it’s possible that he or she was just as careless with how they handled the other bits of evidence, I suppose.”
“But why take the charm from his lab? Whalebone couldn’t be that valuable. And, why drop it where they did? Think they panicked?”
David took a breath. “As much as I don't like this idea, who knows if Aurel and Carpathia didn't have a lover's spat? Maybe she took the bone back, and dropped it while she was trying to flee."
“You’re really going there, David? What’s her motive?”
“Vampires get lonely. They want a lifetime partner, and it's something they can never have. Maybe Aurel wanted to call it off. Maybe Carpathia didn't want the same. I don't know."
“If Carpathia was human and I had suggested her as a suspect, you would have nailed me to the wall for how flimsy that reasoning is,” I shot back.
“Well, Sorry, Hat. But, I'm not ruling her out yet.”
I threw up my hands. "It's like the Portia Fearwyn witch hunt!"
"Now look, Hat, I don't --"
“Got another possibility for you, Chief,” a feline voice said behind us. We turned our heads, and Shade stepped out of the shadows.
“Shouldn’t you be out with Ms. Poof?” I asked, speaking of Shade’s current love interest.
“I think she's a bit hormonal right now. Talking about having kit's 'n' stuff. How it'd be nice to raise a family. And, I was like, Woah!! Not ready for heavy conversations like this yet, shorty! And, then she was like --"
"Shade!"
“Okay, okay. How about little Nugget Junior?” He saw our faces.
“Now just hear me out. Orville’s got some of his daddy’s talent with the metals. He now has full access to the Society AND the house. Plus, although Norris Copperhead is the favorite for official Golden Chair, we all know that young Nugget is a very close second. That's a whole lot of power right there."
David gave him a thoughtful look. “Well, I can’t fault you on your logic, fuzzball. But…”
“Yeah,” I chimed in. “But the kid’s reaction to his Dad's death. Well, he was just too genuine. Sorry, I'm not feeling it."
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, boss,” Shade said, jumping up into my arms so that he could be carried. “What me and Midnight saw of him at the Society, I WANT to be wrong. Seems like a good kid, you know? But I wanted to put it out there.” David reached out and gave Shade's head a vigorous scratch.
"Okay, let's get back to the map. You said the glyph, portal, whatever was just off the Southeast coast of Bonemark?" I nodded to my friend.
"Well, there has to be some physical, or material presence there then," he said turning toward me. "For a fairy portal to work, they have to use some meaningless physical object. And, it just so happens that I know of a wrecked trawler off that coast."
I looked at my friend in disbelief. I couldn't believe that we might have just found the gate into Mag Mell.
"It'd take us more than a day to get there, seeing as brooms or teleportations aren't happening."
"True," David replied. "But, nothing to say we can't fly our brooms across to Talisman first. That'd shave off at least twelve hours, I reckon." My friend's face broke out into a sly smile.
"You're a genius, David Trew!" I impulsively leaned over and kissed the chief on the mouth. That strange hot-cold sensation not putting me off even a little. David blushed.
"I have to admit, I'm a little concerned with Norris Copperhead finding out his map is missing from the locker."
"As you should be, Hat." David wagged a finger at me. "I should arrest you for theft. However, should Norris report this missing item, then he's going to be very disappointed at how long it takes us to recover it," another sly smirk spreading out over his luscious lips.
"Wow!" Shade exclaimed. "Mr. Square Pants is coming over to the dark side!"
"Enough from you, moggie," David joked. "Look, let's all get a good night's sleep, and we can jump on this in the morning. Sound good?"
The chief walked us to the backdoor of The Angel, leaving us to wait for our unbidden adventure for another day.
We sliced through the water at a vaguely horrifying speed. David was a man on a mission, clenching the rudder and steering the zodiac into waves that were nothing short of breathtaking. I mean how could you take a breath when your mouth was pummelled full of salt water? I held the handle on the side of the dinghy with both fists. Giving a silent prayer to the Goddess as I watch my two cats bounce alarmingly from the bottom of the craft. They were soaked. And not in the least bit happy. In fact, they'd been bickering with each other since about the halfway point on our journey to Talisman. 'It's too windy,' 'I'm cold,' that was Midnight. Onyx was more like: 'If you please, I'd very much prefer it if we didn't continue on this flight path.' Still, looking at them now, I wish I'd hav
e thought to have brought some kitty ponchos. We hit another oncoming wave, and the cats were airborne again, catching the near full brunt of the wall of sea spray. Midnight, face like thunder, snapped.
“Cats…do not…like…water!” he yelled at me as his paws scrambled for traction on the wet floor of the craft.
“So you told us the first twenty times,” David said from the outboard motor. “You could have just stayed with Millie if you—“
“If there’s a cure to be found out here, I want to find it!" Midnight replied hotly.
I reached out a hand to my cat, holding on for dear life with the other. "Midnight, come here. You too, Onyx." They trudged through the water toward me, and I herded them into the inside of my 'handle-anything' jacket. It was a tight squeeze, but at least they were element proof. They looked a little like Orthrus, the mythological two-headed dog, the way their little cranium's sat side by side, peering out from the front zipper of the jacket.
"That wasn't fun, or funny. And I'm outraged!" Midnight bellowed, from not more than six inches below my chin.
"I have to agree, dear brother, " Onyx joined in. "I don't believe I've ever been so humiliated. Quite frankly, I'm not so certain it's in the contract that we, the Lemniscate, should be subjected to such acts of degradation."
"Yeah. What he said." Midnight announced, turning his head so I could endure the full force of rage in his eyes.
"Guys, I'm really sorry, okay?" I looked down at them, nuzzling both of their heads as best as I could with my only available hand.
"Look, I'll make it up to you when we get home, okay?" I pulled them closer to me. "I'll get Carbon to set up a cozy fire for you both, and I'll give you the last of the salmon steaks, cool? I took them out of the freezer just this morning." Just in case something like this happened.
"Well, if there are any other acts of animal cruelty heading our way you'd better tell us now. 'Cos salmon ain't gonna cut it if there's more in store for us." I felt his shoulders relax a little, and Midnight leaned into me. He was done. His anger completely spent. That's what I loved about these kitties. They never carried a grudge. Well, except Gloom. Who always carries one, but you know what I mean.
The Infiniti Investigates: Hattie Jenkins & the Infiniti Chronicles Books 1 to 5 Page 91
