Mortal Imperative: An Alastair Stone Urban Fantasy Novel (Alastair Stone Chronicles Book 24)

by R. L. King

  “Yeah,” she whispered. “Believe me, it wasn’t easy for me to find out either. I reacted about like you did, at the time.”

  “How did you find out? Who told you, after all this time? Where was this guy when he was alive?”

  “That’s…the harder part. How I found out, I mean. Somebody sent me an anonymous note. But Jason…there’s a lot more to it than what I’ve told you. Please, come back to the table. This isn’t easy for me either, but I want to get it out.”

  “So that isn’t bad enough?”

  Verity bowed her head. She wondered how much else she should tell Jason—how much he could handle right now. He’d need to find out about her half-siblings, Elena and Miles, of course, since she planned to stay in contact with them. But should she tell him about Sebastian’s vengeful wife Lydia and how she’d murdered their mother? Would it do anyone any good for him to know that? Would it be kinder to keep it to herself?

  “I’ve…got two half-siblings,” she said. “Two…other ones, I mean.”

  When Jason didn’t answer, she looked up at him. He was staring at her, looking like he’d just been beaned in the head with a fastball. “Jason?”

  “Holy shit…” he whispered. “That’s right. If this is true…we’re…half-siblings.”

  She reached across the table and took his hand. “Not as far as I’m concerned. You’re the only brother I ever knew. We grew up together. I don’t care about anything else—you’re my big brother and you always will be.”

  He swallowed. “So…these other two. Who are they? Where are they?”

  “Their names are…Miles and Elena. He’s thirty…she’s a couple years younger. They’re…nice, Jason. I want you to meet them. I think you’ll like them.”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Jason…?”

  “I don’t know if I want to meet them, V.” His voice held no anger, just tired resignation.

  “Why not?”

  He flung himself up again. “Because they’re not my half-siblings. Mom cheated on Dad with this guy, and they’re his kids. Why the hell would I want to meet them? Every time I see them, it’ll remind me of what happened.”

  Verity supposed it was a valid point, even though she hadn’t expected such a strong response. “They’re down south, in a little town called Los Robles. It’s out in the middle of nowhere. Their family owns a winery.”

  “Great.” He stopped, obviously trying to get himself back together before continuing. “Are they…like you?” The question was reluctant.

  “Like me?”

  “You know. Mages.”

  “Miles is. Elena’s a mundane.”

  “Was their mother a mage too?”

  “Yes,” she said softly.

  He snorted. “So, then, I guess they had both sides of the family to choose from that time, huh? So Elena got screwed.”

  “No.” She glared at him. “She didn’t get ‘screwed.’ She didn’t get magic. That’s not exactly something to be ashamed of. She’s fine with it.”

  “Yeah. Okay.” He stared into his beer for a while and didn’t say anything. When he finally looked up, his expression was hard to read.

  His aura wasn’t, though. He wasn’t taking this well at all. “Talk to me, Jason.”

  “You were going to tell me how you found out about all this. You said somebody sent you an anonymous note. Did you ever find out who that was?”

  She took another bite of her sandwich. It was almost gone now, so soon she’d need to look for another way to distract herself while she tried to figure out what to say. “Yeah.”

  “Who? Was it one of them?”

  “No. It was my aunt. Sebastian’s sister. Her name was Josie.”

  “Was?” His eyes narrowed.

  “Yeah. She’s…she’s dead too.”

  “V…” he growled, “there’s something going on here. Something you’re not telling me. This wasn’t just the normal kind of situation most people would have if they found out something like this, was it?”

  She stared into her glass, watching the sunlight glint off the melting ice cubes. “No.”

  “Well, tell me. Tell me all of it.”

  “Do you really want to hear it?”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “You aren’t going to like it, Jason.” She dragged her gaze up. “Especially given how you’ve reacted to what I’ve told you already. I don’t blame you—this is a real shock. It was a real shock to me when I found out. I was a mess for a long time. The only reason I’m sort of calm about it now is because I’ve had several months to let it sink in. I’m thinking…maybe it might be better if I gave you time for that to happen before I tell you the rest.”

  He took several deep breaths, then got up and stalked back to the edge of the deck, where he leaned on the railing and stared out into the trees. “I think you should just tell me all of it now,” he said quietly. “Whatever it is, if it’s got to do with Mom and Dad…and us…I want to know it. I think you owe me that, V.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Is it that bad?”

  “I don’t know how to answer that. It’s…pretty bad. But it wasn’t anything Mom or Dad did, if that’s what you’re worried about. Aside from messing up that one time, Mom didn’t do anything else wrong. Dad, either.”

  “Did he know?” Jason asked suddenly, spinning back around.

  “Know…what?”

  “That Mom cheated on him. That she was a mage. Any of this.”

  “No.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I…talked to Stan a little, when I was first trying to figure this out. He doesn’t know any of the details, though. I just asked him if there was any chance Mom might have…” She sighed. “I didn’t know who else to ask. He was the only one I know who was around Mom and Dad around the time I was born, and was old enough to know stuff like that.” She braced for his renewed anger.

  Surprisingly, though, her words didn’t seem to upset him further. “So, you got this anonymous note from your aunt, who’s dead now too. What happened to her?”

  Okay…enough dancing around. He’s not going to take this well no matter how I tell it. “Sebastian’s wife killed her, when she found out she’d sent me the note.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah,” she said miserably. “And that’s not all. She…she killed Mom, too.”

  There. She’d said it.

  Jason didn’t answer.

  “Jason…?”

  “She…killed Mom?”

  “Yeah.”

  He shook his head hard and waved her words away. “No. That’s impossible. Mom died of cancer. You know that. I was there, V. I was pretty young, but I remember when she was in the hospital.”

  Why had she started this? Why hadn’t she just written it all up, given it to him, and waited for him to digest it before they talked? Right now, all she wanted to do was leap up, run out to her SUV, and drive away.

  But of course she didn’t do that. She’d started this whole mess, and now she owed it to Jason to finish it. “That’s what I thought too,” she whispered.

  Jason looked once again like something heavy had hit him. “But…if that’s not true…then how did she die?”

  She took a deep breath. Her heart was pounding, and sweat trickled down her back. “It was…a curse.”

  “A curse.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Those are…a thing?” He sounded numb now, like nothing else she said could affect him.

  “Yeah.”

  “So…his wife…”

  “Lydia.”

  “You said she’s a mage too?”

  “Yeah.”

  He tightened his hand around his beer can and drained the rest of it in one long swallow, then crushed it. “Let me get this straight,” he said in a tone devoid of any emotion. “Our mother had an affair with some mage named Sebastian, who was married to a woman named Lydia who put a curse on our mother when she found out. One that killed her and made it
look like cancer.”

  Verity bowed her head. “Yeah. Mostly. I’m not sure how much it actually looked like cancer. Stan said Mom went to some kind of private hospital. She knew it was a curse, so she had mages there try to break it. Dad didn’t know any of this. He just thought she was at a special hospital that dealt with women’s illnesses.”

  Jason remained silent for a long time. He set the crushed beer can on the railing and continued studying the trees. “So…this Lydia person. She’s dead too, right?”

  “No.”

  “No?” He glared at her. “This woman killed our mother? She killed your aunt for telling you what happened? And you just let her…”

  “She’s worse than dead, Jason.” Verity got up and walked to him, taking his arm. “Sebastian was sick. He was dying. That’s why Josie sent the note. She wanted me to have a chance to see him…to know the truth…before he died. But Lydia found out. She barged in and attacked me. And then she…had some kind of stroke.”

  His eyes narrowed. “A stroke?”

  She knew what he was thinking—that she might have done it. She’d killed the pedophile mage Mathias by using her power to give him a stroke back in Las Vegas, and the thought that she might do it again—the thought that she could do it at all—terrified her. “I didn’t do it. I promise. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t consider it, but I’m not like that.” She sighed. “No…she…I don’t know…broke something in her brain. She lost it when she saw us together. She nearly killed Miles and Elena. But…it was all her. And now she’s in a care home, and there’s basically none of her left. She’s…alive, but she might as well be dead.”

  Jason let out a long, loud sigh. “Holy shit…” he murmured.

  “Yeah.” She watched him, shifting to magical sight to get a look at his aura. As she suspected, the blue (darker now, since Melvin Whitworth’s treatment) was shot through with angry red flashes and billowing unease.

  “Is that all?” he asked after a few moments. “Is there anything else you haven’t told me yet?”

  “No.” She took his arm again, gently. “That’s all. That’s enough, I think. Don’t you?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Jason?”

  Still no answer.

  “Jason, talk to me.”

  He shook free of her grip, picked up his can, and turned back toward the table. “This is a lot to take in, V. I’m gonna need some time.”

  His emotionless tone worried her. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m not sure I can answer that right now.”

  “Do you want me to go?”

  He paused. “Yeah. I think so. For a little while, anyway. We can talk again tomorrow, or whenever.”

  “Jason?”

  “What?”

  “Do you…wish I just hadn’t told you this at all?”

  He considered, then finally shook his head wearily. “No. I wish you’d told me sooner, but I guess I see why you didn’t.”

  She looked at the remains of lunch on the deck. “Are you going to be okay alone, till Amber gets back?”

  He gave a little snort. “Come on, V. I’m not fragile. I’ll be fine. I just need some time to myself. I’ve got some firewood I need to chop, and I think this will be a good time to do some hard physical work.”

  “Yeah…” That much was true. Jason had always dealt with problems by working out or doing heavy labor. She supposed it was better—or at least healthier—than Stone’s habit of getting drunk and moping in his study.

  She took his arm and tugged him toward her; when he didn’t resist, she pulled him into a hug. “I’m sorry, Jason…I kind of wish I’d never found any of it out either. It would have been easier. But…I do hope you’ll at least meet Miles and Elena. None of this was their fault, and I think you should at least have a chance to talk to them before you decide whether you ever want to see them again.”

  She felt him sigh under her. “Yeah. Okay,” he muttered. “But not right away, okay? Let me work through all this first. Maybe I’ll give Stan a call.”

  Verity hadn’t thought of that. “That’s a good idea. Just…remember he doesn’t know most of this. All he knows was that I was wondering about whether Mom might have cheated on Dad. I didn’t tell him any of the rest. I guess it’s up to you what else you want to tell him.”

  She backed off, suddenly reluctant to let him go. “I love you, Jason,” she said softly. “Like I said, no matter what happens, you’re my big brother.”

  “I love you too, V.” He looked back over the yard and snorted. “We’ll get through this. It’s kind of sad to think this isn’t even close to the weirdest thing we’ve been through.”

  She chuckled. “Not even the weirdest thing we’ve been through this year.”

  He didn’t answer, and didn’t turn back.

  “Okay,” she said. “I’ll see you later. I’m around if you want to talk or have more questions.”

  When he still didn’t answer, she watched him a moment longer and then descended the steps and headed back to her SUV.

  She thought about calling Stone, but decided not to. There wasn’t anything he could do to make this any better.

  2

  When Alastair Stone’s phone rang at his Encantada home a couple weeks before classes at the University were due to start, he figured it would be someone from there. Hubbard, maybe, or Beatrice Martinez. It made sense, even though they’d be more likely to email than call. After everything that had happened recently, he was surprised to realize he was looking forward to the start of the quarter. A little dose of “normal” in his life was just what he needed right about now.

  He dug the phone from his pocket and glanced at the display as Raider leaped onto the table next him. The number didn’t show up. That meant it wasn’t Hubbard or Martinez. “Yes, hello?”

  “Hello, Alastair. How are you?”

  Well. That was not a voice he’d expected to hear. “Madame Huan. It’s…good to hear from you. Surprising, but good.”

  Up until recently, she hadn’t contacted him in months. She hadn’t even been available in months, always conveniently away from her shop when he stopped by. Even though he knew why she’d been avoiding him—and why that was no longer necessary—it still surprised him that she’d initiated contact now. Did she have some other startling and fantastic news to share with him? He wasn’t sure whether he wanted that or not at this point, given he was still working through the latest batch. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  She chuckled. “Always so polite.”

  “Startled more than polite, actually, this time. Can you blame me?”

  He hadn’t spoken with either her or Stefan Kolinsky since the business with Cassius had been completed. Kolinsky had made it clear to him that, despite everything he’d learned, their relationship wouldn’t fundamentally change.

  “You must understand,” he’d told Stone, “I and the others are still bound by our agreement not to become directly involved beyond a certain degree. We’ve already stretched that beyond what many others would consider a reasonable point.”

  “So in other words, you’re telling me in your oh-so-polite way that I shouldn’t rely on you or Madame Huan for easy answers to all my problems.”

  “Just so.” Kolinsky had seemed pleased at his directness. “If you keep that in mind, then we can continue as before with little change.”

  That wouldn’t be easy, but Stone had decided putting a little distance between himself, Kolinsky, and Madame Huan would be a good start. Let things settle back to their usual levels. He had things to do anyway.

  Now, Madame Huan laughed. “I suppose I can’t. But I’ve got some news that might possibly please you.”

  “Possibly?” Stone got up and began pacing around the living room.

  “Well…it depends on whether you still want to finish that portal you were building in your basement. I suppose you’ve got good reason now for not going through the trouble.”

  Stone stopped, hardly daring to believe i
t. “Are you telling me—”

  “I’ve finally managed to locate a small quantity of vanazarite. It wasn’t easy, but I know you’ve been looking for quite some time.”

  “Bloody hell.” He’d put the word out to his small number of sources a long time ago, and Madame Huan, before she’d stopped returning his calls, had been at the top of that list.

  “I warn you—it won’t be inexpensive. Even with a small discount for the fact that we’re longtime associates, you know how rare it is.”

  “Too right I do.” He began pacing again. The last time he’d almost managed to find the elusive substance, it had been plucked from under his nose by Melvin Whitworth. After the man had died and destroyed his laboratory, it had disappeared again. Likely, it had been ruined at the same time as the lab.

  “The question is…do you still want it?”

  Stone didn’t miss the odd note in her tone. She had a point—he no longer technically needed to build his portal, since he could now travel anywhere ley lines existed without the use of one. True, there were a few portals that weren’t on ley lines, but not many and definitely none of the major public ones.

  On the other hand, though, he couldn’t take anyone else with him using his new method. Kolinsky had told him dragons could take scions, but scions couldn’t take other scions. And anyway, as far as Stone was aware, he didn’t know any other scions, aside from his son Ian. He’d managed to get it out of Kolinsky that Verity wasn’t one, which disappointed but didn’t surprise him. So if he wanted to take her, or Jason, or anybody else through without having to drive down to Sunnyvale, there was still an advantage to having his own.

  “I…do still want it,” he said after a moment’s pause. “Do you have it now? When can I take delivery?”

  She chuckled. “So eager.”

  “You haven’t seen my basement. I’ve got everything all ready to go, and have for quite some time. This is the last step.”

  Now it was her turn to pause. “Be careful, Alastair. I know you know what you’re doing, but building portals is never completely safe.”