Blood Brothers: An Alastair Stone Urban Fantasy Novel (Alastair Stone Chronicles Book 22)

by R. L. King

  “But—” Both Amber and Verity looked troubled.

  “But nothing. We’re going to find Jason—or at least the man who’s got him. At this point, I don’t care which, as long it gets us Jason back.” He pointed at a bank of drawers Amber had flung open earlier. “He keeps his medical equipment in there. Find me a syringe. Something I can draw blood with.”

  Both of them looked like they might protest, but neither did. Instead, they both went to the drawers and rifled through them. “There’s no other way?” Verity asked. “A more elaborate circle?”

  “We haven’t got time for that.” Stone softened his voice. “Look—if I had another way, I’d use it. You know that. I don’t want to do this. But we’re not going to hurt the boy. All we’re going to do is take a bit of blood and use it to find the man who snatched him in the first place.”

  She continued to look conflicted, but didn’t say anything else. Neither did Amber, who seemed to be warming more to the idea as she reluctantly acknowledged there wasn’t a better one. She pulled a large syringe from the drawer. “This work?”

  “Yes, that’s fine. Both of you go on—get out of here. There’s no reason for you to be party to this.”

  “I want to find Jason,” Amber said. “So I’m already party to this. I don’t like it either, but sometimes you have to do something you don’t like because you don’t have another choice. Just get it over with and let’s find him.”

  Stone nodded. He took the cover off the syringe and approached the boy.

  “Wait,” Verity said. “Let me do it.”

  “No—I can’t—”

  “Have you ever drawn blood from anybody?” she asked gently.

  “No. But—”

  “Let me. I don’t want to hurt him any more than necessary.”

  Stone hesitated, then handed over the syringe. He and Amber stood back and watched as Verity carefully swabbed Caden’s arm, inserted the syringe, and drew it out until the bright red blood filled the tube.

  “Where did you learn to do that?” he asked.

  “Edna. She taught me a few mundane medical techniques too. Haven’t had much reason to use them, but I haven’t forgotten.” She capped off the syringe and gave it back to him. “Are you going to do the circle here?”

  “No. We’ll find somewhere else near here. Grab some more components from the shelves—I don’t want to go all the way back to the hotel.”

  “What about Caden? We can’t just leave him here.”

  “We can’t take him with us,” Stone said.

  “I’ll take care of that,” Amber said. She pulled a basic flip phone from one of her jacket pockets. “I always carry at least one burner, in case I need to make a call I don’t want traced. Once we leave here, I’ll call the police and tell them where he is.”

  “Brilliant. Let’s go, then.” Stone retrieved the bag full of papers and notes he’d gathered and waved them out.

  Verity paused to check on Caden, then hurried to follow. “His parents will be glad to get him back.”

  “Yes, and with any luck, he’ll be the last one any of them will ever have to worry about again.”

  They drove a few miles from the lab before looking for a place to do the ritual. Amber and Verity throbbed with anxious energy, and Stone was certain if either of them could make the car go faster by sheer force of will, they’d be flying now.

  It wasn’t difficult to locate an abandoned building, and just as easy to use magic to break in. Stone immediately set about creating a new circle, while Amber and Verity both paced around in increasing agitation. He was agitated too, but used an advanced meditation technique to drive out his worry about Jason’s fate. He wouldn’t be any help to his friend if he botched their only attempt to find him. They only had the one small vial of blood, and if he didn’t do this right, there was no chance to get another one.

  Finally, the circle was finished. He lit the candles and stepped into the center, using magic to feed power into the structure until the familiar, ordered lines appeared to tie the whole thing together. “Okay,” he said. “Please stay quiet, and if you can’t sit still, at least pace out of my line of sight. I don’t want any distractions.”

  Verity and Amber moved around behind him and resumed their pacing as he took deep breaths and dropped into his trance state. He held the vial of blood over a small bowl, the only thing they could find to use as a receptacle, and began the incantation. As always, he lost track of the time, losing himself in the ritual. At the proper time, he poured the blood into the bowl and reached out with his consciousness.

  As always, a fog began to form over the bowl. It twisted and roiled, then formed itself into a tendril. Stone watched tensely, refusing to give voice to his fear that the tendril would simply drift away, indicating that their target was out of reach. That couldn’t happen. Not after everything they’d all been through together. It couldn’t—

  The tendril gathered itself and shot upward through the high ceiling.

  Yes. Stone smiled and send his consciousness after it. It had found something, which meant he could be right: their quarry wasn’t under the same wards Jason was. If they could find him, then they could find Jason. Even if they had to take the man apart until he broke.

  The tendril moved decisively in one direction, then hesitated.

  Come on, Stone urged. You know how to do this. Find him!

  The little thing spun in place, like a dog who’d had a solid scent but then lost it. It seemed confused.

  Come on… He knew his own willpower couldn’t do anything to help this process along—either the ritual would find its target or it wouldn’t, and he could do nothing but watch.

  After several seconds, the tendril seemed to catch the scent again. It spun twice more, then changed direction and darted off to the north. Stone rushed after it, following it down as it plunged into a large building. In front of him, the little puddle of blood made a loud whoosh as it was expended.

  When Stone shifted back to mundane sight, Verity and Amber stood at the edge of the circle, their anticipation nearly palpable in the air.

  “Did you find him?” Amber demanded.

  Stone clambered to his feet, leaped free of the circle, and gathered the spent components with his whirlwind spell. “Got something. Come on, we need to go.” They didn’t have a map, which meant he’d have to hold the location fully in his head. “You drive. I’ll navigate. I think we’ve got him this time!”

  Despite her growing stress, Amber drove fast but safely, following Stone’s erratic directions. The traffic was brisk even at this time of night, but they kept a good pace as they headed up highway 94 north out of Chicago.

  Stone remained silent, focusing on the faint remains of his spell. They didn’t seem to be fading, which was a good thing—it meant their target hadn’t either moved away from the location or hidden himself back under the wards. All they needed was for him to stay where he was for a few more minutes. They were getting close now.

  “How much further?” Amber demanded, whipping the car around a slow-moving pickup truck.

  “Not far. Take the next exit.”

  The exit took them east on another road toward a town called Glencoe, and it quickly became obvious when they reached it that the residents of this place had money. A lot of money, judging from some of the fine homes they were passing, most of them set well back from the street at the end of long driveways or behind walls and gates. Stone directed them off the highway and into one of these neighborhoods, continuing to focus on nothing but the lingering traces of his spell.

  Amber seemed to resent having to slow down, but the road narrowed and grew windier so she didn’t have a choice. The trees grew close together over them, blotting out all but occasional patches of starry night sky. “Soon?”

  “Almost. Just…keep going. Slow down.”

  She slowed the car, creeping down the street past parked cars. The houses were widely spaced here, with large yards and thick trees separating neighbors far en
ough apart that they likely couldn’t see each other’s houses from their windows. Most of them had lights on. The neighborhood looked sedate, respectable—full of the kinds of homes successful professionals bought to keep their families entertained while they worked their eighty-hour weeks in the city.

  “Here. Stop here. I think this is the one.”

  Amber pulled over and shut off the ignition. “That place? Doesn’t look like a magical mad scientist’s lair to me. Looks like someplace a rich guy lives with his trophy wife and two-point-five kids.”

  She wasn’t wrong. The house, accessible via a long driveway but not gated or walled, had an inviting look to it. The front yard, dotted with trees, was well tended, and a string of fairy lights illuminated a walkway leading out of sight.

  “That’s the place I got,” Stone said, getting out. “Nothing else is close enough. Are you picking up any scents? Jason or the kidnapper?”

  She sniffed. “Definitely not Jason. Can wards block scents too?”

  “I’ve never heard of it, but I’m not sure anyone’s ever tried. Anything else?”

  “Something…it’s weird. It’s almost like the guy, but not quite. Like he’s masking his scent somehow.”

  “I suppose if he knows we’re tracking him that way, he might have something alchemical to take care of it.” He waved them closer. “Stay close—I’ll put a disregarding spell on the car, and invisibility on us until we get out of sight of the street. Do you see any security cameras? Verity, help me look for magic.”

  Amber narrowed her eyes, scanning the area. “I don’t see anything, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t hidden. We should be careful.”

  “I don’t see any magic, either,” Verity said, looking troubled. “Doc, are you sure you didn’t get some kind of false reading?”

  Stone was beginning to wonder if she was right, but shook his head. “It seemed fairly definitive. I got something. It’s fading, though—come on, let’s do this before it disappears completely.”

  Clustered together under the invisibility spell, they crept through the yard, avoiding the lit path. As they approached the house and moved beyond the trees, they got a better look at it: a large, two-story brick structure with white shutters and a line of hedges along the front under a large bay window. A semicircular flight of two brick steps led up to a double door with narrow windows on either side.

  With each step forward, Stone grew more apprehensive. Had the spell somehow failed? Had the kidnapper come up with a way to distract a tracking spell? He’d never heard of such a thing—either they worked or they failed. As far as he knew, even his powerful friends like Stefan Kolinsky hadn’t managed to misdirect one.

  He couldn’t hold the invisibility spell much longer, though. They had to do something. “Ideas?” he whispered. He couldn’t see Amber next to him, but the question was mostly directed at her. This kind of operation was more her style than his.

  “Let’s surround the house,” she said. “Peek in through the windows and see if we can spot anything. If he’s in there, we need to catch him by surprise. But if we break in without knowing and it turns out to be the wrong place, we could bring a lot of problems down on us—and Jason.”

  “Right,” Stone said. “I’ll stay here and look in through that front window. Amber, you go around the back. Verity, use your invisibility and levitate to the second floor. Look in the windows there.”

  “Report with texts,” Amber said, and immediately took off. She moved in utter silence, and soon disappeared around the far side of the house. A moment later, Verity lifted off the ground and floated up.

  Stone crept forward, letting the invisibility spell drop before it tired him too much and swapping it immediately with a disregarding one. It wouldn’t work if anyone was watching the house—it was hard to look unassuming when you were creeping around in the dark looking in someone’s windows—but it was better than nothing. He dropped down to the level of the hedges, lifting his head only high enough to see over them and in through the big bay window.

  At first, he saw nothing except a typical living room, furnished in a wealthy but lived-in style of wood and leather. A pair of sofas were arranged around a coffee table, with a brick fireplace with a flatscreen TV above it beyond them. The wall behind the sofa, the only other one Stone could see from his current vantage point, had a doorway leading deeper into the house, along with a framed landscape painting and a series of small potted plants on a small shelf. One thing was certain: this was no soulless rental like the place they’d first discovered back in San Jose. He didn’t even have to look at auric traces around the house to know someone lived here, probably for a long time—and more than that, someone cared about the place. He ducked low again, pulling out his phone and sending a text to Verity and Amber: See anything?

  It’s all dark up here, Verity sent back. Want me to slip in through window?

  Not yet. Amber?

  Dark here too. Kitchen, dining room, family room. Nobody here.

  Stone considered. Detecting anyone else inside?

  One scent. Not Jason. Not our guy.

  Stone could almost see the frustration and despair in the tiny black text.

  We should go. We’re wasting time, Amber sent. He’s not here.

  Stone was about to reply when he caught movement in the corner of his eye, inside the house. Hold on, he sent, then peered over the hedge again.

  A man had entered the room. Stone watched him as he moved further in, and it was quickly obvious that he was an older version of the Dr. Ernest Novak (or Timothy Summer, or David Kaiser, or any of the other false names he might have used in the past) they’d seen in the photographs. Appearing to be in his late sixties, he had graying hair, a lean, lined face, and a neutral expression. His clothes were simple but obviously expensive: button-down shirt, slightly baggy pants, and a tan cardigan sweater. He carried a cup of tea and sat down on the sofa without glancing at the window where Stone hid. A moment later, the TV switched on to a news channel.

  Got him, Stone sent to the others. Not the kidnapper, but I’m sure it’s our fertility doctor. Appears to suspect nothing.

  Should we break in? Verity sent. Can’t let him get away.

  Stone continued to watch the man. He’d settled back in his chair and put his sock-clad feet up, as if he expected to be there a while. Let me. Verity, you come down and watch the door. Amber, watch the back door. I don’t think he’s going to try to escape, but be ready.

  I want to talk to him, Amber sent back.

  Even though they were only printed words, Stone had no trouble reading between the lines about what she meant by talk.

  Wait, he sent. Let me go in first. Give me five minutes and then come in.

  Got it, Verity sent.

  Amber?

  There was a long pause, and then, Fine. But if he tries to run he’s mine.

  Fair enough. Five minutes.

  Stone crept along, crouched beneath the hedges, until he reached the front door. It was possible the man had a burglar alarm, but Jason had once told him that most people didn’t bother to arm their systems when they were home. Even if it went off, they could deal with it.

  A quick spell unlocked the door. It swung open on silent hinges, revealing a tiled entry-hall area with an old-fashioned coat rack and several pairs of shoes and boots neatly lined up along the opposite wall. Stone took a look back at the door, scanning for any signs of an alarm sensor (something else Jason had taught him), but saw nothing. He could see the man’s head through the open doorway. Obviously he still didn’t suspect anything.

  That was odd. If he was in on this, he should have been on the alert. Why was he even home, instead of off with his accomplice, assisting with whatever he was doing with Jason?

  Stone stepped into the room and stood just inside the doorway. “Good evening, Dr. Novak. Or Dr. Kaiser. Or Dr. Summer. Or should I even call you ‘Doctor’ anything?”

  The man jerked in his chair, leaping to his feet with surprising speed f
or someone his age. His eyes widened in fear. “Who are you?” he demanded. “How did you get in here?”

  “I don’t think that’s the question of the evening.” Stone moved further in, taking a position where he wouldn’t be visible from the outside. “Where is my friend?”

  “Your…friend?” He looked perplexed. “I don’t understand. What are you talking about? I don’t even know who you are.”

  Stone had shifted to magical sight, watching his aura as he spoke. It billowed with confusion, and showed no signs that the man was controlling it in any way. “Where is Jason Thayer? Please don’t try to tell me you don’t know what’s going on. You’re far too deep into this for that to be believable. You were too deep into this twenty years ago for that.”

  His words hit the man like an electrical jolt. His face went white and he sagged, reaching behind him to grab the edge of his chair. “Oh, my God. I do know who you are. You’re Alastair Stone.”

  “Go ahead and say it—I’m supposed to be dead. Surprise.”

  “Oh, God…” he muttered. He dropped down until he was sitting on the arm of the chair. “Everything’s gone so horribly wrong. What has he done now?”

  Stone blinked, tilting his head. This wasn’t going at all as he’d expected. He’d thought there would be a fight, or magical defenses to contend with, or at least that their target would try to escape. But instead, the man looked like his whole world was crashing down on him.

  Even more confusing: how had his spell led him to this man in the first place, instead of their original target? If Amber’s powerful nose could be believed, there was only one person in the house. She’d said the scent was “almost like our guy” but not quite. But if that were true—

  And then, suddenly, the answer came to him.

  It didn’t all make sense—not yet—but now he was sure had one big piece of the puzzle that had eluded him before.

  The sliding back door slid shut, and a moment later Amber appeared in the rear doorway. “Did you get him?” she growled, glaring at the old man with feral rage.