Game of Stone

by R. L. King

  Still, the place was every bit as big as the attic. Divided into two rooms, one large and one smaller, it included more boxes, some broken furniture, and an elderly pool table with a ripped cover.

  “Nice,” Verity said. “Very stylish.”

  Stone shrugged. “They did say it needed work. But given time, this could make a nice library. All I’d need to do is put up an illusion to—well, I suppose I’d need to have you do it, wouldn’t I?”

  “Sure, I’ll do it,” she said, casually ignoring the implications of what he’d said. “You can make it one of my final projects.” She grinned. “So does that mean you’re keeping the place?”

  “I don’t know yet. Ah! That reminds me. Let me check something.” Without waiting for her response, he hurried back upstairs and out of the house into the front-yard area.

  Verity jogged along behind him. “What are you doing? Why are you out here?”

  He didn’t respond, except to raise a hand in a “hold on” gesture. He shifted to magical sight and turned slowly in place. “Yes…” he murmured. “Excellent.”

  “What?”

  He headed back inside. “I do think I’ll keep the place,” he said as he went.

  “What made you change your mind?” Verity caught up with him as he closed the front door and slipped the key back inside the box.

  “Two things.” He pointed toward the yard. “One, it’s got a ley line running right through the middle of it.”

  “And the other?”

  “It appears to be haunted.”

  “Haunted?” She snorted. “Come on, Doc. Seriously?”

  “I think so. But that’s just a nice bonus that will need more research later. The ley line is what sealed the deal. Come on, let’s get going. I need to call the solicitor back and then we’d best get on with your lesson. I’ve got quite a lot planned for today, since we’ve been slacking.”

  20

  The following week, a messenger appeared at Stone’s place with a note from Kolinsky. I have some information you might find interesting, was all it said. Please come to the shop at your earliest convenience. SK.

  “About time…” Stone muttered. He hoped Kolinsky had found one of the white figurine sets, or at least had a solid lead on where to look. While he wasn’t complaining about life settling down to normal for a few days, he couldn’t enjoy it thoroughly with the constant fear that the next black piece would act soon hanging over his head. Especially since he had no idea if the thing even would act. He’d called Blum earlier in the week to check in, but the detective had nothing to report.

  “Maybe it’s over,” he’d said. “Not really much any of us can do. I tried to talk to the stoner who stole the things, but he’s disappeared. His friend thinks he mighta got spooked by the attention and taken off for a while till the heat’s off.”

  “Perhaps so.” At least Stone didn’t have to worry about the guy ratting him out for buying the box. “I’ll keep investigating, and let you know what I find, if anything.”

  “I guess that’s all we got. Like I said, we have no clues from our side of the world. Timmons doesn’t think it’s gonna be solved at all. No suspect, no murder weapon, nobody with any motive—at this point, unless you turn up anything, we might just have to move on.”

  Kolinsky was waiting for him when he arrived at the shop, seated in his usual place at his roll-top desk. “Thank you for coming. I think you will find this information quite enlightening.”

  “Did you find more information about the white set?”

  “Better than that. I have found the set itself.”

  Stone stared at him. That was indeed better than he could have hoped, especially this quickly. “You did? You’ve got it here?”

  “No. I do not have it here. But I know where it currently resides.”

  “Well—that’s good, at least. Where?”

  Kolinsky raised a cautioning hand. “A moment. It is not that simple, I fear.”

  “Why not? If you’re worried about your payment—”

  “No. I am not concerned about that. I know you will keep your word. But in light of the information I have discovered, I am afraid I must alter the terms of our deal a bit. There are…extenuating circumstances.”

  Stone hadn’t sat down yet. He leaned forward and gripped the edge of Kolinsky’s desk. So close to what he’d been seeking now, he had no patience for games. “What are you talking about? What kind of extenuating circumstances? Out with it, Stefan.”

  Unruffled, Kolinsky opened a drawer and removed a file folder. He consulted a page inside without showing it to Stone. “The set is, as nearly as my sources can determine, complete. It is in the possession of a wealthy and powerful practitioner.”

  “Hmm. Does he or she know what it is?”

  “I doubt it. She is a collector of magical artifacts, and acquired this one a few years ago. I do not know where she obtained it. But as of now, it is in a heavily warded and secure area in her home.”

  Stone resumed pacing. “Do you think she would consider selling it?”

  “I doubt it. Once an item comes into her possession, she has never been known to release it.”

  “So that’s the—extenuating circumstance you mentioned?”

  “One of them, yes.”

  “Well—do you think she could be persuaded if I explained to her that people were dying, and the only thing that has a chance of preventing more deaths is this set?”

  Kolinsky sighed. “No. I do not think so. I am aware of this particular practitioner. I have had dealings with her, reluctantly, in the past. She is quite…unpleasant, and ruthless even by my standards. Were she to have lived during the time when these figurines were still in use as game pieces, I suspect she would have quite happily participated in the game—on the black side.”

  “I…see. Well, bugger.” He paced more, thinking, then stopped. “You said she’s a collector. Do you think I could tempt her into a trade with some other artifact? I know several of the things in Desmond’s collection are—”

  Once again, Kolinsky raised his hands. “Alastair, I do not believe it will work. She is…a very spiteful woman. If she were somehow to find out you were seeking the set, I suspect it would soon disappear to a place where you would have no hope of ever obtaining it.”

  Stone slumped into a chair, swiping his hair off his forehead. “Well, what then? I know you, Stefan—you wouldn’t have called me here just to tell me you found it. You must have some idea how to get hold of it.”

  “I do indeed—but I suspect you will not approve of it.”

  “Tell me what it is. I don’t have a lot of options right now.”

  “If you truly want the set, I think you will have to steal it.”

  Stone knew he couldn’t keep his astonishment from his face, so he didn’t try. “Steal it? That’s absurd. I’m not a bloody cat burglar. Especially if this woman is as powerful as you claim.”

  Still, Kolinsky remained unruffled, his posture relaxed. “I did not say you must do it alone.”

  “Come on, Stefan—you’re not going to help me break into some other mage’s warded house, even if I were willing to do it. The only way I can ever get you to budge from the center of your spiderweb is by tempting you with expensive lunches.”

  Kolinsky offered a small smile. “No, Alastair. You are correct—my assistance will not be personal. But I can help you in…other ways.” He closed the file folder and put it back in his drawer. “If you should decide you want to obtain the set, I can provide you with specific data on where you might find it, and somewhat less specific data on the exact security measures you might face. I can also offer you some assistance in entering the place undetected, and in obscuring your identity.”

  Stone had known Kolinsky far too long to believe that was where it ended. “I’m not getting all of that for a couple of books and a wooden box. Assume—and it isn’t a fair assumption, since I’d be mad to even consider doing this—that I did want this set enough to steal it. What would
you want in exchange for this…extra help?”

  “That should be obvious.” Kolinsky leaned back in his chair and regarded Stone with the casual confidence of a man who knew he was going to get what he wanted. “She has another artifact in her possession—one I have desired for many years. I would like you to obtain that item along with the set of figurines.”

  Ah. That was more like it. Oddly, Kolinsky’s words calmed some of Stone’s tension—if he wanted something for himself from this endeavor, it would be more likely the information he’d provide would be complete and accurate.

  But still—stealing magical artifacts? From a mage Kolinsky found formidable? It was insane even to think about it.

  He increased his rate of pacing, pausing occasionally to look at something in one of the display cases before stalking off. Before he realized what he was doing, he spun back toward Kolinsky. “How sure are you that this game is going to escalate?”

  Kolinsky shrugged one shoulder. “From everything my research indicates—and you are welcome to review it yourself, although I am not certain you will be able to read some of it—the higher-level pieces, especially the final two, will result in significant loss of life if not countered. In the game, it appears, these pieces were almost always countered. The black side, if it won, usually did so by accumulating points from the earlier pieces’ acts.”

  “So we’re talking things like mass murder.” In his mind’s eye, Stone pictured his version of what the scene at Ralph Gallegos’s house must have looked like—and that was only three deaths.

  “Quite likely. And also, it appears that the later pieces impart more of their power into their mundane ‘agents,’ making them more potent, more difficult to locate, and more difficult to stop—at least by mundane means. It is even possible that the pieces can act on their own, in addition to supplementing the agents’ latent magical abilities.”

  Stone slumped against a wall. “So even if I did decide to leave this to the mundane authorities—even if I could work out a way to provide them with tips that might help them locate the agents—it’s unlikely they’ll be able to stop them on their own.”

  “Yes.” Kolinsky turned his chair to face Stone. “I do not know why the black set chose to activate now, after all these years. Much of this game’s specifics are of course lost to history. But clearly it has activated.”

  “And it’s going to see the game through,” Stone said. “Unless I find this other set and stop it.”

  “It is up to you, Alastair. In truth, I would advise against it. I value our continued association, and even with the information and assistance I can give you, I cannot guarantee your safety.”

  “But if I don’t do it, a lot of innocent people could die. And I don’t even know how many. It could be a dozen—it could be hundreds, or even thousands. Right?” He fixed his gaze on Kolinsky again.

  “It is possible, yes.”

  With an absurd sense of amusement, Stone thought about his life over the past few months, and how chaotic it had been. Now, finally, it had appeared that things were beginning to settle down a bit—or at least get to the point where he could deal with them.

  Except apparently life didn’t work that way for him. Somewhere in his past, the Universe had apparently decreed that he and a peaceful, uneventful life weren’t compatible with each other.

  Before he could say anything else, his phone buzzed. “Excuse me a moment, will you?” he said, already moving off to the other side of the store as he hit the button.

  “Stone? It’s Blum.”

  Uh oh. “Hello, Detective. What can I do for you?” He leaned against the wall, facing away from Kolinsky.

  “Nothing, unless you’ve got any new lines on those chess piece things. We had another incident last night.”

  A chill rose at the back of Stone’s neck. “What kind of incident?”

  “Arson. A head shop in the Haight.”

  “How do you know it was arson? Perhaps someone was smoking inside, and—”

  “We got the guy who did it. And he had another one of those things on him. Said he got it from a guy on the Wharf a while back.”

  Stone bowed his head and rubbed his face. “Was anyone hurt?”

  “No, thank God. He did it at night and the place wasn’t open. But it was close. If the fire guys hadn’t gotten there as fast as they did, it could have taken out the whole block.”

  “And let me guess—the arsonist doesn’t have any idea why he did it.”

  “Get this—he worked for the head shop. He was pissed at his boss for accusing him of stealin’ some weed. But that was a couple weeks ago, and he claims he wasn’t pissed enough to burn the place down.”

  Stone sighed. That was four of the figures activated now, with three more—the most potent three—remaining. “Thank you for telling me, Detective. I might be on to something, but I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know.”

  “I hope so. It’s gettin’ to where I’m afraid to answer the damn phone. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Oh—Detective?” Stone said quickly, before he could hang up.

  “Yeah?”

  “What did the figurine look like? What form did it take?”

  “Hang on a sec.” Stone heard rustling, then: “Some kinda bird with jagged feathers and bright orange eyes.”

  “Okay. Thank you, Detective. Send me a copy of the photo if possible. I’ll do what I can.”

  He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket.

  “Is everything all right, Alastair?” Kolinsky asked. He was still at his desk, and put aside a book he’d been examining.

  Stone pushed himself off the wall with a loud sigh and came back over. “All right, Stefan. Give me the details and I’ll nick the damned thing—that and whatever else you want. Or at least I’ll try to.”

  Kolinsky’s expression didn’t change. He showed neither approval nor disappointment. “As you wish. You must give me a bit of time—a day or so—to gather the resources you will need. Come to the shop tomorrow evening and we will talk further.”

  “Brilliant.” What the hell have I gotten myself into?

  As he prepared to leave, he stopped before he reached the door. “By the way, I had my session with Scuro last week. Thank you again for the tip.”

  “Of course.”

  “It’s working nicely. I’ve already noticed an improvement in the rate I’m losing power.” He smiled ruefully. “I think I’ll leave it at the one, though. Fainting in front of one’s apprentice is a bit embarrassing.”

  “Very little of value comes without some pain,” Kolinsky said mildly.

  “Right. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Stefan. In the meantime, if the whole magic thing doesn’t work out for you, you might consider a job writing fortunes for cookies.”

  Kolinsky did not reply, but Stone hadn’t expected him to.

  21

  Stone returned to Kolinsky’s shop the following evening, though it had been no means certain throughout the day that he’d do so.

  He’d spent most of the day distracted and out of sorts, to the point where even the usually oblivious Hubbard had commented on it.

  “You all right, Stone?” he’d asked as the two of them walked back to their offices from a meeting.

  “Fine.”

  “You sure? You’ve been looking tired lately.” He snorted. “We really need to light a fire under old Martinez to step up the search for another professor. The extra course load’s not bad—when you actually show up, anyway—but these department meetings are a pain in the ass.”

  “They are,” Stone agreed, barely listening. All day, he’d been going over possibilities of what he could end up facing when he went after the white figurine set. If the woman Kolinsky had spoken of was truly as powerful and spiteful as he’d insinuated, she could be anywhere on earth—and the set could be protected by all manner of deadly magical and mundane security measures.

  What the hell had he been thinking? He was a university professor. He didn’t know
the first thing about breaking and entering, avoiding security systems, or sneaking around inside places he wasn’t supposed to be. Even if Kolinsky could give him a complete layout of the place and a full rundown of what he’d be expecting, that didn’t mean he could actually pull it off, any more than he could perform brain surgery with a manual and an instructional video.

  But that didn’t matter. The black figurines weren’t going to stop—not until all seven of them had activated and a lot of people had died. He had to at least try to stop them.

  “Stone?”

  He snapped back as he realized Hubbard had still been talking. “Er—what? Sorry. Got a lot on my mind today.”

  “Yeah, I can see that. Just don’t forget the interview tomorrow, okay? And get it together before that. This one’s resume looks pretty good—let’s not scare her off.”

  “Right. Of course. I’ll be there.”

  He supposed it was fitting that he at least stick around to interview his replacement before he headed off to do some crazy stunt and get himself killed.

  Kolinsky was waiting for him as usual that night at the shop, which looked even more ominous and abandoned in the dark. He sank into the waiting chair with the air of a condemned prisoner and sighed. “So—what have you got? Did you find the information you were looking for?”

  Kolinsky studied him for a moment, then nodded. “Yes. But I have also found some…somewhat troubling news.”

  Brilliant. Just what I needed. “What is it?”

  “I had hoped you would have more time to prepare for the operation. But unfortunately, it appears that is not to be.”

  “Why not?”

  “My sources have informed me that the target is currently abroad. She is due to return home the day after tomorrow.”

  This just kept getting better. “So…you’re saying I need to do this before then?”

  “It would be to your advantage, yes. I believe the odds of success would drop significantly if you had to deal with her directly. Her security measures alone will provide a formidable enough challenge.”