by TR Cameron
“It does. I agree. Bodyguards, lower profile, treat ourselves like principals in need of protection.”
“Exactly. Glad we’re agreed.”
The dwarf said, “I already have a couple I can detail to myself. Do you want me to pick some for you?”
He nodded. “Yeah, please do. Make sure at least one of them is a magical since I’m not.”
“You got it.” The dwarf rose and headed for the door. “I’ll arrange it right now. I think this is a good idea. Oh, and we’re still good for the other thing, right?”
“Of course. The boss told us to do it, so we have to do it. And do it big, so he decides we’re worth keeping around.”
Grentham grinned. “Perfect. I’m a huge fan of big. I’ll make it happen. You focus on selling us to the elves.”
The door closed behind him, and Jared nodded to himself. Yeah, do it big. Because if the boss decides we’re expendable, no amount of bodyguards can keep us safe for long.
Chapter Twenty-One
After a long nap to make up for spending the night before out on the streets, Ruby threw her finds in a backpack and headed out to Shentia's shop. She’d asked Idryll to stay behind, still not willing to share that connection unnecessarily. So much hidden information to keep track of. It seems like I’m coming down with a bad case of the secrets as well. She found the Drow sitting in her customary spot behind the counter in the front room and leaned on the display case that separated that section of the space from the entrance. “I have a question for you,” she said without preamble.
Shentia inclined her head. “Ask, and if I can, I shall answer.”
“I heard yesterday that a magic item was recently sold here in town. The source said it was some sort of armor, possibly a blend of technology and magic, maybe only magic, I can’t be sure. It would’ve been small enough to fit in a case. Something like a briefcase was the impression I got, so it must be kind of unique.”
The other woman nodded. “I’ve heard of such a thing, and rumors said it had made its way to the city. Probably this is what your source is referring to. It was created a very long time ago; no one knows by whom. The pieces are a collar, two bracelets, and two ankle bands. Separately, they are useless. Once put together and invoked with the appropriate word, they create a suit of magical armor, the stored power spreading from piece to piece. It’s reputed to be very powerful against both magic and mundane attacks.”
Ruby breathed, “Dammit. That doesn’t sound good.”
“If this is in the hands of an enemy, then I very much agree with your assessment. Still, there are sure to be a few ways to overcome it. The most likely to be successful would be to overload it with concentrated damage so that a given piece fails, or to outlast it. The suit will only endure for as long as the power in the receptacles does. The final option would be to break one of the individual pieces. If one fails, they all do.”
“Would it be more vulnerable to physical damage or magical damage?”
The other woman shrugged. “There’s no way to be sure. Some believe a magic’s opposite is more powerful against it. I think that in some cases that’s true, but not always. However, I’ve never heard tell of what power this one uses; or, rather, I’ve heard multiple stories that do not match up. One says shadow, the next fire.”
Ruby pictured what a full-body fire shield would look like and shuddered at the idea of having to face one. “That would be quite the impressive visual, anyway.”
The Drow chuckled. “Yes, indeed it would. Imagine that in the eyes of a less sophisticated culture. That certainly argues for the possibility that the armor might have multiple magics so the wearer could use particular modes to impress different groups.”
Ruby sighed. “Okay. Well, if I’m lucky, maybe I’ll be wrong about having to deal with it. Perhaps some benevolent collector bought it, right?”
The dark elf lifted an eyebrow. “Almost certainly. If you believe the world tends towards goodness.”
“Well, I might be in trouble then.”
“Speaking of trouble, I hear news of a fracas on the surface. Some sort of warehouse. Have you heard about such a thing?”
Ruby laughed. “I’m sure your information sources are impeccable. In fact, I do know something about that event.” She pulled the backpack off and set the bag on the case in front of her, then took out the individual pieces inside. The Drow left her chair to examine them one by one, her expertise on display as she lifted, turned, poked, and prodded.
“Impressive haul. I would not have thought you one to indulge in thievery, however.”
Ruby shook her head. “Definitely not. These looked very valuable, and I didn’t want them to sit in an evidence locker forever. Plenty of other, smaller stuff was around to make whatever charges they wanted stick. I hoped you might get them back to their owners, and if they can’t be found, maybe you could sell them.”
The Drow nodded. “I can attempt to do so. Consignment?”
She waved the idea away. “No, let’s call it a credit against future needs, in any amount you think appropriate.”
The other woman laughed. “Don’t you know you’re not supposed to trust Drow? Everyone says so.”
Ruby rolled her eyes. “If I’m ever in accordance with what everyone says, I’ll know something’s wrong with me. I trust everyone until they give me a reason not to.”
Shentia reached under the counter and came up with a bag that she sat on the case with a clank. “A friend asked me to give these to you. They are healing and energy potions, contained in unbreakable metal flasks. Good for those who find themselves wading into danger on a regular basis. Or perhaps, for those who might make a habit of getting blown up in a casino.”
Ruby chuckled and took them. “Thank you. Diana?”
The other woman shook her head. “No, Nylotte.”
“I don’t know her. Strange that she would give me a gift.”
“She values Diana highly. Unless I miss my guess, you’ll have the opportunity to meet Nylotte before too long. When she takes an interest in something, she’s fairly tenacious about it.”
“Is that common among Drow? Because it seems like it might apply to you too.”
The other woman laughed. “Perhaps not among Drow, but certainly among Drow who are interested in magical objects. The trails we must follow require intense focus. So, we don’t give up easily.”
Ruby zipped up the backpack and shrugged it on. “Seems like good qualities to have. Thank you for your help.”
Shentia nodded. “You are certainly welcome. I will try to find the owners of these pieces. Be safe.”
As she opened the door, Ruby replied, “I’ll do my best.”
As she closed the door behind her, she was startled as another voice said, “Try your best to what?”
She turned with a growl to see her sister leaning against the building with her arms crossed. “None of your business.”
“What are you up to?”
“Also none of your business, but I can see you’ll keep stalking me until I tell you. I’m gathering information for the police so I can share it with Sheriff Alejo. Someone has to do something, and I know people who can find information and need someone to pass it on. I’ll also share it with you when I’ve got it together, as I promised.”
A smug look appeared on Morrigan's face. “That explains why you went in there with a full backpack and came out with an empty one, how?”
“Again, none of your business.”
Her sister took a step forward, and her expression and tone became almost pleading. “Whatever you’re doing, I can help. Let me.”
Ruby scowled and turned away, calling back, “No, you can’t. Now go home.”
Right at the edge of her hearing, she heard her sister’s muttered, “We’ll see about that.”
After returning home to pick up Idryll, she portaled to the garage and headed back into her house. One of these days, I’m gonna confess what I am to my roommates so I can quit having to use the gara
ge and portal in and out of the house. This is ridiculous. Still, part of her understood that her parents wouldn’t bother to keep it secret without reason, and given the need to keep other secrets in her life now, maintaining this one wasn’t nearly as annoying as it had been. She found Demetrius playing video games with Shiannor and watched for a while. When he lost a round of Mario Kart, she tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up. “Cutting in?”
She laughed. “No, but I hoped to talk with you. In private.”
Shiannor lifted an eyebrow and made a lascivious woo sound, and she gave him a mock scowl. “In your dreams, pointy.”
“That’s entirely racist, you round-eared barbarian,” he replied neutrally. It was a thing they did, and neither took offense.
Demetrius’s room was closer, and he flopped down on his bed as she sat backward on his task chair. He asked, “Okay, what can I do for you?”
For an entirely unexpected moment, she really wanted to join him on the bed and see where that might lead. Instead, she closed her eyes and forced her attention back to where it belonged. “I have to ask you for a favor, a big one. You’ll get a retainer paid by Spirits, but that will take a week or two to arrange.”
“I’m listening.” He propped himself up on his elbows to see her better.
“I need to know what’s going on in this town. Whenever something bad is happening, I want to hear about it right away. Like an early warning system. You’re usually on your computer, and I know you can hack into anything you want to, so I figure you’re the right person to ask.”
“Why?” The fact that he didn’t protest his inability to do it gave her hope.
“It’s for the good of the city. We have to stop these people, and if you tell me, then I can tell others. Because of who my family is, they might listen.”
“Why are you getting involved? How does this affect you?”
She squeezed the back of the chair with her fingers. “It’s not about me. Someone has to do this, and I can. I have advantages that others don’t. That puts me in a good position.”
He thought about it for a second, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll help, and I’ll ask the others what they’ve seen and heard. But know this. I’m not going to follow orders blindly. If I think something’s weird, I’ll do what I feel like I need to do, including calling the police, the sheriff, the FBI, whatever. I won’t out you or anything, but I also won’t keep secrets that could lead to people getting hurt.”
Ruby nodded. “I can’t ask for more than that.” She reached into her thigh pocket and pulled out an earpiece. “This is an encrypted communicator to allow us to stay in touch. It’s comfortable enough to wear most of the time if you want, but we can use phones for most of our connections. It’s just that if I’m going to investigate something you find, or whatever, it would be nice to be able to communicate with you.” She tossed it across the room, and he caught it easily.
“Did you make this?”
She nodded. “I helped. Margrave did most of the work.”
Demetrius frowned. “Ruby, are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
She rose out of the chair and slapped the back of it with a palm. “One hundred percent. Absolutely.”
He laughed. “Sounds like a lie.”
She shrugged, grinned, and headed for the door. “Thanks, Demetrius. I knew I could count on you.” All the support pieces are in place. Now it’s on me not to screw it up.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Goryo lay on the bed in his rented house, staying as motionless as possible so the custom blend of healing medicines he’d taken could do their work. It wasn’t as good as the potions the magicals had, but it would still get him on his feet faster than without it. His eyes were closed, and his earpiece fed sound from the listening devices he’d left behind at the security company. He usually downloaded the information and listened at his leisure, but he was bored, so he was eavesdropping in real-time.
When the two owners’ voices had come through the receiver in the garage, he’d climbed up out of a half-sleep to listen more intently. They entered the car they regularly used together, based on the fact that he heard them conversing on that pickup fairly often. The human asked, “So, everything’s good for tonight?”
The dwarf replied, “Definitely. We have the best of the best ready to go.”
“Any change in the objectives?”
A short laugh. “I’m going to give them free rein to cause as much havoc as possible. Avoiding civilian casualties where possible, of course. We’ll beat on the security personnel and the people who work there if they do anything other than run away, though. Plus, we’ll do everything we can to damage the casino enough that it’s forced to close. If the owners are there, we’ll take them down.”
The other man muttered something inaudible, then continued, “If only we could’ve nabbed the kid on our first attempt, we’d be moving onto another place already.” The worry in his voice was unmistakable.
His partner spoke in a low, calm tone, clearly attempting to soothe his companion. “Don’t worry about it. My people will get us back on track tonight. Then the boss can point us at our next target. We’re already thinning the competition, everything’s moving in the right direction, and it all looks good going forward. Try not to freak out too much.”
The human laughed. “Screw you.”
“There’s the Jared we all know and love.” Their conversation turned to unimportant things, and Goryo flicked off the receiver. So, they’re going after the Atlantean casino. Makes sense. That’s something I can use to my benefit.
He forced himself up out of bed with a groan and headed for the laptop computer on the desk in the house’s small office. A few keystrokes called up the Kraken's blueprints, provided by the best infomancer he knew, and he examined them carefully. Okay, when things start to happen downstairs, it will freak out the owners and their kid. They’ll retreat to the secure floor in the casino and hold there to see what happens, most likely. If I can move into position, I can hit them when they get there, or at least kidnap the child. I need to know more than I do now.
He clicked the icon to launch a secure communication program his magical computer genius had provided and typed.
Free for twelve?
A message came back almost instantly.
Can be.
Standard rates?
Sure.
Excellent. Here’s what I need you to do.
He gave the infomancer several things to research, a series of actions to take immediately, and others to do when the action kicked off. He promised to send a signal to trigger the latter when he saw the security company moving. Closing the app deleted the information and overwrote the memory that had contained it.
He showered quickly and headed for the walk-in closet that held his gear. He slipped on the same outfit he’d worn before, with an undamaged set of fitted body armor underneath. Only three of the protective sheaths had come with him to Ely, and he couldn’t reuse them until his armorer had replaced whatever required replacing. He strapped his pistols into place and slid a dart gun with custom ammunition into the holster at the small of his back.
Next up was the harness for his sword, which he shrugged on and adjusted to ensure it was positioned properly for an over-the-shoulder draw. Any hesitation could be fatal when matters were up-close like they would be if he had to turn to the blade. Then he opened the case that contained his secret weapon. He slipped on the bracelets and ankle cuffs, then snapped the collar closed around his neck. He covered it all with a dark jacket that zipped up past the collar and had a slit that allowed the hilt of the sword to stick out. Pockets held extra magazines for his pistols and several other potentially useful tools. Fully equipped, he headed to the garage to start his drive to the casino.
Grentham hopped out of the car and walked toward the door to the storage space he’d rented, as always through a deniable third party. The SUV peeled out behind him, his partner wanting to make sure he was as far from the action
as it was possible to be. As usual. Grentham shook his head. He’d say it’s good business. I think if it looks like cowardice and acts like cowardice, it’s probably cowardice. But what the hell do I know? I’m not going in tonight either.
Waiting inside the large building were his two bodyguards and the team he’d send in to take on the Atlanteans that night. Unlike the last action, this crew included magicals and humans to overwhelm the casino security, both with numbers and power. He didn’t doubt there would be some magicals among their guards, but that’s what overwhelming force was designed for, taking on more powerful enemies.
He made a gesture so they would stay seated and climbed up on an ammunition crate to ensure they could all see him. “Okay, people. Here’s the deal. You’re going to go into the Kraken and create as much trouble as possible. Break things, take out the guards, steal money from the casino if you can, but be sure you make a total mess of the place. I want them to have no option but to close for some serious renovation, get me?”
Nods and smiles traveled around the room, and one bold soul confirmed, “We get you.”
Grentham nodded. “Good. Primary objective is what I said. Wreck the casino and take out its security. While most of you are causing chaos on the first floor, a team will go up into the administrative offices to secure whatever confidential materials happen to be available. If we can find the owners, they become the main priority for that group. I can’t imagine they’ll stay; odds are they’ll portal out at any sign of danger. If you get a sense that they’re present, eliminating them becomes the most important thing.” His team’s expressions showed they wouldn’t have any problem pulling the trigger on the casino owners, which meant he’d chosen his people wisely.
“Finally, if you get any suggestion of significant force coming against you, whether it’s additional guards, police, whatever, drop smoke grenades and get the hell out. Hit, fade, and fight another day. Cars will be waiting a block away, right where we planned. Do as much damage as you can without getting dead. Any questions?”
