The Stars Never Rise (The Midnight Defenders Book 2)

by Joey Ruff

  “Yup,” I said, drinking. “Is there some peach shit somewhere?”

  “In the dining room,” he said, not looking back at me. “There’s bread in the fridge.”

  I considered getting up, but didn’t.

  “What the hell happened to your car?”

  “What?!” I jumped up and moved to the window. Across the roof of the cab from one door to the other were three streaks in the paint, too wide to be keystrokes. “Fuck.”

  Ape chuckled. “I’ll make an appointment with my guy.”

  “Don’t,” I said. “It’s a battle scar.”

  “From what?”

  “Whatever did it. I think it might’ve killed Seven.”

  “Which, in your opinion, is?”

  “A thunderbird.”

  His eyes grew wide as he considered me. Then he said, almost dismissively, “We’ve seen weirder, and it would explain the weather.”

  “Why is it everyone gets that but me?”

  “You’re not exactly the most observant person in matters that don’t directly pertain to you.”

  “Bollocks.”

  “Jono, no offense, but if I didn’t pay your bills, you probably wouldn’t even remember my name.”

  I ignored him. “Crestmohr in the barn?”

  “Stable. With Nadia.”

  As I moved to the door, he said, “I’m leaving in twenty minutes.”

  “For what?”

  “We’re meeting Rino.”

  “Right. I’ll be ready. What car are we taking?”

  “The new one,” he said with a wickedly triumphant grin.

  I paused at the door. “You got it?”

  “Picked it up yesterday.”

  I nodded and walked outside.

  The stable wasn’t far, and as I approached, I heard excited barking and two large, brown Rhodesian Ridgebacks broke from the stable doors and bounded to me. They hit me with such force, I fell on my arse and tossed my coffee mug. Before I could get upset, the dogs were tongue-bathing me.

  “Alright,” I said amid stifled laughter. “Yes, I’m happy to see you bastards, too.”

  I wasn’t always a dog person, but I’d grown to like the mutts over the past eight months. Originally, the Rhodesian breed was used to hunt lions in South Africa. Well, they were also particularly effective against Manticore dragons and bogeys. No question about it, the dogs saved my life, and the bonds formed in battle lasted a lifetime.

  I struggled to get up, but they were unrelenting, pawing at my chest, licking my face with tongues as wide as my calloused hands and slightly rougher. Eventually, a man came into view, and like a right jolly elf, he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name, “Thai! Taboo!”

  Their enthusiasm washed over me in reverse as the beasts spun, dug their nails into me one final time, and sped away towards the stable.

  I stood and brushed myself off. As I neared the stable, the man crossed to me and extended his hand. “Good morning, John Swyftt,” he said in a rich baritone. His grey eyes met mine confidently and in the sunlight they sparkled like silver.

  I took the proffered hand and noticed his strong grip, noticed also the way his caramel skin made me look even paler by comparison. “Crestmohr,” I said. “How are ya, Mate?”

  He smiled heartily. “It is a good day. No doubt, John Swyftt, you come to see the animal.” He moved to the door and said, “Come inside and see.” As he stepped inside, the dogs, who had waited patiently at his heels, followed. Crestmohr pointed to the grass beside the door and said, “Stay.”

  Thai sat immediately, but Taboo whined, circled a few times, and laid across his kin.

  The inside of the stable was cool, and the earthy scent of straw and wet animals met my nostrils with force.

  Like all of Ape’s earthly possessions, the stable was larger and more luxurious than what was really necessary. If the place wasn’t big enough, the high, vaulted ceilings and row of hanging chandeliers didn’t do anything to discourage the vast, ballroom feel. The place looked like it belonged at a derby somewhere, and a dozen stalls stood on either side of the soft, padded aisle, which was wide enough to park a Buick. Inside nearly every stall was a beautiful stallion or mare, and in-between every other one was a walk-in storage closet, presumably where the blankets and saddles and shit were kept.

  The four stalls at the back of the stable were twice as wide as the others, and Nadia stood at the gate to one on the end. She was dressed in tight jeans and a loose Snoopy t-shirt.

  She turned to me as I neared and gave me a smile, then she turned back to the pen, and the exchange was vaguely reminiscent of a new mother proudly watching over her sleeping newborn. Nadia’s wasn’t a baby, however, but something more familiar.

  I sighed.

  Slumbering in the hay was the bonnacon. I did have to admit, the thing looked peaceful at rest, and there was something majestic to its carved muscular form.

  “After that big storm last year, Crestmohr lined all the stalls with Gopher wood to keep the horses calm.”

  “You do realize I was present for that, right?”

  “Well, you never come out here, so how do I know.”

  I patted her on the head, and she arched an annoyed brow at me. I took my hand away.

  “You don’t look very good,” she said, glancing at me. “Rough night?”

  “You could say that.” I leaned against the edge of the gate, arms folded across each other. “What’ve you been feeding this thing?”

  She eyed me curiously. “Nothing, yet. It’s been asleep since we brought it in.” I could still feel her eyes on me, and I turned to her. “What are you avoiding?” she asked.

  I sighed. She knew me too well. I’d raised her for the last ten years as my own, and she knew me as well, if not better, than any child knows their parent. She was the daughter of my friend and mentor; his dying wish was that I care for her.

  “Troll,” I said, as if in surrender. “Last night, on the road.”

  “Okay?” she said, and I could tell she didn’t fully understand.

  “You know the troll I’m talking about, kid. I haven’t fought but one noteworthy.”

  “When you entered the Hand?”

  “It was more like my entrance exam, but yeah.”

  “Okay. What about it? You said my…that Huxley evaporated it.”

  “Well, that’s what I thought,” I admitted. “Now I’m not so sure.”

  “And…?”

  “And, now I need you to try to research it.”

  “You mean, the amulet?”

  I nodded. The amulet was an amethyst jewel flanked by assorted semi-precious stones and animal bones, all very hoodoo. It had belonged to Huxley, her father, and she inherited it on her eighteenth birthday several months prior.

  We didn’t understand its importance at first, only that Huxley had bound part of his soul to it to reenergize himself when he needed a second wind. Over the course of months, as Nadia continued to exhibit knowledge she shouldn’t possess while wearing the damned thing, Ape hypothesized that Hux had also stored some of his memories in it as well. It remained mostly untested, but if we talked about old cases around Nadia, she seemed able to finish our thoughts. It was pretty creepy.

  “I’ll…try,” she said. “It’s not like Google. I can’t just search for specific things.”

  “I know. Trying’s all I ask.”

  She nodded, and I noticed that she wasn’t wearing it.

  “Everything okay with you?”

  She shrugged. “Fine. How did it go with Jamie DeNobb?”

  “You mean, did I mention you to him? No. And trust me when I say, that boy’s trouble. You don’t want anything to do with him.”

  She flashed me an ironic smile and said, “You sure do sound like a parent these days.”

  “What do you know?” I let my gaze drift back to the slumbering animal. “You sure this thing’s safe in the barn?”

  “Of course. Crestmohr’s gonna help me take it outside later a
nd see if we can get some food into it.”

  I glanced back at Crestmohr. For a moment, I’d forgotten he was there. He nodded. “Speaking of animals,” I said to him. “I need your input on something.”

  “Of course, John, I am happy to help.” He squared his broad shoulders and shook his thick, white mane. His grey eyes stared at me intently, holding my gaze as long as I dared and seeking it when I looked away. He was a decent guy, never anything but courteous, but there was something I couldn’t nail down about him, something that just seemed…off. Maybe it was the way – depending on the weather, the sun, the lighting – he appeared to be anywhere from eighteen to forty-nine years old. Or the way, when the sun hit his eyes just right, they sparkled silver. Yet, despite his apparent agelessness, Nadia insisted the bloke was human.

  “Your people,” I said. “The Chinook Indians.”

  He nodded.

  “I’ve read some of the stories. Legend says the Chinook descended from the great Thunderbird spirit.”

  “Yes.”

  “You ever seen one?”

  “A thunderbird?” he asked. “In times past, the thunderbird was seen on every cliff that overlooked the Western sea. They guarded the lands against the waters.”

  “And now?”

  “There has not been a thunderbird spotted in a very long time.”

  “They weren’t herded into reservations like the Indians?”

  He smiled at the thought. “No,” he said. “Thunderbirds are the spirits of nature. They are one with the great Eagle. They cannot be contained.” He paused, and his final words were haunted with a sadness that seemed somehow very familiar to him. “Their fate was something much darker.”

  “Why would one kill?”

  “Kill?” he asked, perplexed. “It is not in the great bird’s nature to kill. Thunderbird brings the rain that makes the earth green and fertile and the lightning which makes the shadows cower and the snow which covers all of man’s impurities. Please, John Swyftt, do not misunderstand the nature of things.”

  I pulled out my phone and showed him the picture of the feather. “What is this?”

  He stared at it for a silent moment.

  “It was found at a crime scene,” I said, my voice growing a little annoyed. “Maybe it didn’t used to kill, but I’ve got evidence that says otherwise, now.”

  He smiled slowly, turned from the image on the small screen, and looked at me. His eyes flashed silver as they stared into mine, and I suddenly felt a strange warmth that made me uncomfortable. “Tread lightly, John Swyftt. You know as well as anyone that things are not always as they seem.”

  “Right,” I said with a sigh. “More cryptic information from my spiritual Indian guide.”

  I cast a glance at Nadia, who watched me with an unapproving look. I turned back to Crestmohr. “Cheers,” I said and began to walk away.

  “Where you going?” she asked. I could hear her shuffling steps coming up beside me.

  “Got a thing with Ape.”

  “That was kinda rude. You did ask his opinion. He gave it.”

  “Did he?”

  She sighed and stopped walking as I continued on. “Typical,” I heard her say, and then she turned back to Crestmohr and said, “I’m sorry. He’s in one of his moods.”

  “I heard that,” I called.

  “Sorry…dad,” she mumbled.

  “Go clean your room,” I said and walked out of the stable.

  9

  Ape was waiting at the car by the time I got back to the house, leaning against the dark, glossy surface, arms folded across his chest. He was dressed a little nicer than usual, meaning he wore a shirt and shoes – honest to God, shoes. His feet were wider than normal due to his…condition, and he would whine about how normal shoes didn’t fit right. Typically, if his feet weren’t bare, they were clad in ninja shoes – which were basically just thick socks with a noiseless, rubber sole. The pair he wore now was some new technology: some shiny, elite running shoe with toes built in – he said it was like walking on air.

  The shirt he wore was a crisp, white, linen button-up, the sleeves rolled to the elbows, with a charcoal, pin-stripe vest over top; his pants were a matching print, as was his fedora. Ape loved hats – loved them as much as he hated shoes – and wore them everywhere to hide his hideous cowlick.

  “This is it?” I asked, motioning to the car behind him.

  He smiled proudly. “Renault Wind,” he said. “Limited Edition.”

  “Of course, it is.”

  “I paid more to import the damn thing than I did for the car.”

  “Why didn’t you just buy it here?”

  “It’s French,” he said, “not even available in the States. I had to purchase it from a dealer in Europe.”

  “Uh huh.”

  The two-seater roadster coupe glistened in the morning sun as he opened the driver’s door and hit a button. The area above the trunk opened and the hard top of the cab lifted straight up into the air and back down over the trunk as the compartment closed over it. The entire action was quick, seamless, and smooth. Ape looked at me proudly. “Did you time that? Twelve seconds.”

  I nodded. I didn’t know the average convertible conversion time, but I admired the look of the vehicle and the sleek lines along its sides like dimples in a mare’s ass. It beat the hell out of my El Camino, and the fact that she was topless got me slightly aroused. I mean, who doesn’t love a convertible?

  “Come on,” he said. “I’ve barely even driven her.”

  “Alright,” I said, climbing in beside him. He hit the gas pedal abruptly and peeled out, navigating around the curves of the winding drive with such mad ferocity that it made me a little nervous. More than once, I expected to collide with one of the foo lion statues that stood sentry, but the car handled beautifully and we were driving through the front gate in about as much time as it took him to put the bloody top down.

  “What do you think?” he asked as he pulled out onto the road.

  “I think you’re a kid with a new toy.”

  “Then let’s play harder.”

  He hit the accelerator, and we were gone. He continued at that speed for a few miles, slowed just enough for the curves, hit the interstate and melded with the flow of traffic.

  After a few minutes, he said, “Did you enjoy dinner last night?”

  “Dinner?” I asked, a bit skeptical. “You mean intervention?”

  “Don’t say it like that. Nadia and I are just worried because you spend so many long hours in the darkness with Anna. For the love of God, Jono, we have to make you bathe some days.”

  I smelled myself on instinct and shrugged. “We’ve already had this talk.”

  “And yet you don’t listen. I get that you love your daughter, and I know that her loss affected you. I’m not trying to belittle that, but you’ve got Nadia you need to worry about as well. You’re the only father she’s got left. She needs you.”

  “Nadia’s a big girl.”

  “Jono.”

  “Is this why you wanted me to come along? So you could corner me and assault me?”

  “No, I brought you along because you need a case. You’re like Sherlock Holmes. You go insane when you’re idle. The only good you are to anyone is when you’re focused on a case.”

  “I have a case: that weatherman.”

  “Right, and now it’s over. It’s a start. I’m glad you’re showing initiative, but one case in how many months…”

  “How did you know it was over? Did Nadia say something?”

  “No. You mentioned it earlier. Why would Nadia say something?”

  “She thinks DeNobb’s cute.”

  Ape didn’t say anything.

  “Because she thinks he’s cute,” I said again, trying to get the change of topic to stick.

  “Which obviously,” Ape said, “you have a problem with.”

  “Of course, I do. The bloke’s a total fuckhole.”

  “You didn’t say anything when she had a crus
h on Austin.”

  “He’s a Catholic priest, mate. The only sex he’s allowed to have is with altar boys.”

  “He’s not anymore.”

  “So…he can’t have sex with altar boys? When did that change?”

  “I mean, he’s not a priest anymore.”

  That caught me off guard. “When did this happen?”

  “About a week ago. I was going to tell you, but I’ve barely seen you since then.”

  “Well, what happened?”

  “It’s not my story to tell. But he’s gone, left town.”

  “Shit. You sure do have your secrets.”

  We drove in silence for a few miles before Ape said, “I know you’re protective, Swyftt, but you need to let her live her life. It doesn’t necessarily have to be with the weatherman, but…”

  “Good. Cuz it’s not gonna be.”

  “Just do this case with me, and I’ll leave you alone for another week, alright?”

  “I’m here, aren’t I?”

  “Physically, yes.” He looked over at me. “Don’t you miss working together?”

  I shrugged and didn’t say anything. He turned back to the road, and I let my mind drift back to the troll and the old man on the road from the night before. Ape droned on, but I didn’t listen. After a moment, I heard him say, “You’re so damned preoccupied with Anna that this obligatory paternal treatment of Nadia feels misplaced.”

  Then he finally shut up, and I turned the radio on.

  His words rang in my ears for several minutes, and I tried to keep my hands from shaking. What the fuck did he know about raising a daughter? Hell, for that matter, what the fuck did I know? I never had a chance with Anna and now I was blowing it with Nadia, too. Christ on a fucking cracker. Shit.

  He got off the interstate south of the city, a short ways down the coast, and we took back roads for a while. Ape continued to demonstrate the vehicle’s handling around some serious hills and curves until we reached a gate that stood open, apparently for our arrival. He drove through, and after what felt like an hour along the winding drive, I saw a house just slightly smaller than Ape’s own. It was a large, white colonial-style home with great, two-story pillars that held up the front of the roof.

  “This must be a friend from the country club.”