Heroines and Hellions: a Limited Edition Urban Fantasy Collection

by Margo Bond Collins

  Del thumped her fist into the wall. "He has no friends in the old city. Never been there, as far as I know. He doesn't know how to get there."

  "You must tell the Colonel your son is missing and might be heading into the old city to try and find his dad."

  "I would have asked his help once, but now he wouldn't give a damn." Del slouched onto a stool. "Aidan would be collateral damage as far as Asher’s concerned."

  Glynn opened and closed his mouth quickly, as if he thought about defending Colonel Asher, but then decided against it. He reread the paper orders still in his hand. "We've nine hours to 4am."

  Del walked around the bench and thumped Glynn on the shoulder. "She is right." Del pointed at me. "He's probably headed to the city. He doesn't say much but he listens to everything. If we don't find him, he could be in the old city at the same time you and a bunch of squaddies stomp your way through the tunnels. I don't need a plan to go and find my son. You've forgotten who I am."

  Glynn gripped her hand. "I've not forgotten. We’ve got guesses, but we don't know where Aidan is." Glynn sighed. "I'll have to let Colonel Asher know. We are short-staffed as it is. He won't be pleased."

  "Tell him I can help."

  Glynn barked out a laugh. "He rates sorcery about as highly as blocked toilets."

  "I can look for the boy while you take care of other business."

  "No." Glynn slammed his hand against the bench.

  "I might find him, I can get help from quarters you can't access."

  "It's the quarters I can't access I'm worried about. You get into enough trouble in small, boring Winterhurst."

  Del scrutinized my face. "What are you suggesting?"

  I pushed my way between them. "I can try scrying, and I can do that right now."

  "Scrying?" Del lifted her brows.

  "You've probably seen fortune tellers at fairs, with their crystal balls?"

  "That's fake bullshit. Those people prey on the weak and vulnerable—"

  "No." I raised my palm to silence her. "When I do it, I call on spirits to help me find people, places. I don't know if it would really work to tell the future, I've never tried. That's not the point. When Purah was kidnapped, I found him by scrying. It works."

  "Who the blazes is Purah?"

  "That's not important Del. I've seen her do it. It's worth a shot." Glynn blinked rapidly. "Have you got a crystal ball thingy in your bag?"

  "I just need a bowl of water, preferably metal."

  Del grumbled, but rummaged in the drawers. She found a large stainless steel bowl and filled it with clean water from the tank.

  "On the floor is best." Right on the earth would be better, but hopefully these floorboards would be close enough. I tried to drop cross-legged onto the small rug next to the sofa. My ankle spasmed and I sucked in a grimace. Glynn picked up and settled me on the sofa.

  Del placed the bowl between my knees, and knelt next to Glynn on the rug. "Please, find him."

  I lifted my face and met her gaze. "No guarantees. But I’ll do my best. Do you have an image of him?"

  Her shoulders caved forward. She shook her head.

  Glynn tapped her hand. "What about the self-portrait sketch he did?"

  "If it's a good likeness, I can use it." Images seemed to help. Perhaps they just helped me to focus.

  At a nod from Glynn, Del left the room. She returned seconds later with a framed pencil drawing. "It’s probably a year old." She gulped. "It doesn't look like him. Except for his eyes."

  I took the portrait from her and Missy jumped behind my back. Aidan was a good artist. He'd drawn himself blond like her. His clear blue eyes shone with the same intensity that fired her face.

  "You won't see anything interesting." I handed the drawing back to Del, glanced at Glynn. "I don't know how long it will take. Or what I’ll see, if anything."

  "If this doesn’t work, I’m going to look for him regardless." She hugged the frame against her chest.

  "We've nothing else to go on." Glynn’s lips pressed tight together. "We can't be any worse off."

  Missy turned once and settled at my back. I closed my eyes and cleared my mind of everything except the image of Aidan Tanner. I shook out my hands to relax nervous tingles in my fingertips. I’d found Purah, and I scryed my way into the past a few times. This time I had to find a boy I'd never met. I focused on his eyes.

  Where are you, Aidan?

  A clock ticked in the kitchen, counting away the seconds. We had a deadline—find Aidan before he was caught in crossfire, or the undead found him, and before he needed his medication. I recalled the image of his intense eyes to my brain. Where was he? Lost in the old city, or lost somewhere between home and Brimbank?

  I willed my body into a relaxed state and let my senses roam freely. Missy snored, her firm body a perfect pillow. The sound of the ticking clock receded into the background. A breeze drafted through an open window and brushed warm air across my arms.

  Except the air was cool, and tinged with a metallic, stale odor.

  Aidan sat cross-legged in the corner of a cavernous concrete space, a large map spread out in front of him. He held a torch at head height, working it slowly across the map. He nodded as if satisfied with something, and leaned back against the wall. A deep sigh escaped my mouth. Thank Haebeth, I didn't have to tell Del her son was dead. But where was he?

  Square pillars dotted the empty space. Neither windows nor doors let in light. I pushed out harder. No dead or undead, nothing living except Aidan, and a throng of rats. They scurried about their business, ignoring Aidan as he ignored them. In my mind, I picked up a lantern and with quickening pulse thrust myself further into the vision. A metallic odor hit the back of my throat, oily dust tickled my nose.

  The lantern cast a yellow glow on the floor barely bigger than my stride. With my hands stretched out in front of me, I stepped from one pillar to another. Twenty-four pillars away from him I came to a concrete wall. I followed the wall until I arrived at a stairwell. My legs dragged like lead pipes. I couldn't hold my presence here much longer.

  At the bottom of the stairs I grabbed onto the handrail and pulled myself up one painful step at a time. Pity I couldn’t communicate with Aidan, but scrying didn’t work that way. At the landing, a faded sign was still attached to a door. But I couldn't read it. A green circular symbol stood out, but the letters next to it swam in my vision like a crazy shoal of fish.

  The vision evaporated, and I pitched headfirst back into the Tanner house.

  "Sip slowly." Glynn held a glass of apple juice to my lips. The taste clean and sweet after the dirty staleness of the room Aidan was in.

  A shaft of orange twilight filled the room, a relief after the gloom of my vision. I pushed myself onto my elbows. "I saw him." I couldn't wait to report the news, Del must’ve been itching to leave and look for him. "He's alive."

  Glynn's hand shook for a second. He hugged me to his chest, kissed my temple.

  I sipped the juice and let it trickle down my dry throat. A heavy sigh escaped from deep within. "I don't know where though."

  "Describe it." Glynn sounded like a policeman again.

  I told him what I'd seen.

  "An old car park?" Del asked from the doorway.

  "There's plenty to choose from in the city." Glynn shook his head. "But he's alive. Thank God."

  "Wait." I bolted upright. "Before I fell, I saw a door. I couldn't read the sign but there was a symbol. I can draw it for you, green circles—"

  "The old Edwards Energy building." Glynn gripped my hand. "You did it."

  "Do you know—"

  "Yes."

  The tightness across my shoulders eased.

  Del ran to the hallway, Glynn bolted after her. I followed at a slower pace, my head still spinning a little.

  They faced one another in Del's bedroom, both bristling. Del wriggled into a padded jacket loaded with pockets of every size and thickness. Glynn stood with his hands on his hips, his shoulders pulled back and
spine rigid.

  I stepped into the room and Del yanked the wardrobe doors wide open. A metal rack covered the wall, several guns hung from hooks, ammunition crowded the shelves. She clipped a holster to her thigh, fitted a full magazine into a gun, and shoved cartridges into her pocket.

  She beckoned me over to the wall. "Grab whatever you like."

  I lifted my palm. "Thank you, but no. I have my own methods."

  She shrugged, took another gun and jammed it into an inside pocket.

  Glynn gripped her shoulders. "No. You're not Army anymore." He took a deep breath, faced me and clutched my hand. "Meagan this has nothing to do with you."

  Del stepped away from him. "Nope. This has nothing to do with the Army. We are talking about my son. My son."

  "You've admitted that undead are involved." I stepped between them.

  "If only it were that straightforward," Glynn said.

  Del shrugged her shoulders.

  I grabbed her elbow. "If undead people—"

  She shook off my hand. "They aren't people, they are corpses filled with freaking monsters."

  Suddenly I understood why Glynn feared for my safety. I'd have to deal not only with the dead, but also the living who didn't approve of my compassion for them.

  "If the undead have abducted your husband, and Aidan finds them, I can talk with them. Release him, maybe both, without the need for bullets."

  "Look, I have no idea who or what you are. It's too late for talking." She shoved more cartridges an already bulging pocket and glowered at Glynn. "Either get out of my way or start helping."

  Glynn stared her in the eye. She stared back. Neither of them moved for a few seconds.

  Glynn closed his eyes. He barely opened his mouth to speak. "I'm coming with you. But we get back before the squad attacks. Right?"

  "We get back when we have my son."

  "I'm coming too." I jabbed him in the shoulder.

  "No."

  "You can't send her anywhere until the car gets back in the morning." Del pointed at me. "How much trouble is she likely to get into if we leave her behind?"

  Glynn ran his hands through his hair, strode to the doorway and back, like a caged animal. I had a feeling he was remembering how much trouble I could get into.

  He squeezed his hands around my shoulders. "If you come. You do as I say. No questions. Got it?"

  He handed me a gun. "That's the trigger safety. Up is on. Remember to switch it back on before you shove it in your pocket or bag."

  Glynn was in his element. Handling weapons like he'd done it all his life. About to head out to kill, without so much as a second thought. My chest tightened uncomfortably. I didn't want to see him like this. Didn't want to be a part of it, not like this.

  "I don't need a weapon—"

  "If you want to come with us, you come armed."

  "I'm never not armed." I pushed the gun back into his hands. "I don't need any weapon against the undead. Nothing you have is better than the skills I possess."

  A slight tremor shook his hand. "Take it. I'll tie you to the bed if I have to."

  "You can get your kink on when we get back." Del snorted.

  A smile flitted across Glynn's face. Warmth crept up my neck. What sort of kinky was Del hinting at? What fantasy had danced across Glynn’s mind? A pang of jealousy speared into my abdomen. They were clearly good friends, close enough to argue passionately but still support one another.

  "I'll do a deal." I ignored the heat in my cheeks. "I'll carry your gun, as long as you wear your amulet."

  "I don't do—"

  "Just wear the bloody thing," Del shouted.

  He nodded, though his grimace suggested he wasn’t happy. I raced into the spare room, quickly pulled on a shirt, tied it at my waist and tightened my satchel across my chest. Would I need my hat? The sun was setting, but who knew what time I’d get back if I got a chance to explore the tunnels myself. I grabbed the hat and tied it loosely around my neck so that it hung halfway down my back.

  When I returned to Del's bedroom, they were both wearing packed vests. I wrapped my arms around Glynn’s neck to firmly clasp the amulet in place.

  He wound his arms around my shoulders, pulled me close, and whispered, "Not all our enemies are undead."

  I cupped my hands around his face. "I’ll take care of the undead. The rest are up to you. Deal?"

  "Deal." He pulled my hands away. "But you’re still coming with us, armed or not at all."

  Glynn held the gun in front of me. "Basic safety. It’s always loaded. Always on. Trigger lock is one click, on, off. Stand like this." He stood feet wide apart, both hands on the weapon, pointing it straight ahead. "Show me."

  He shoved the gun in my hand and made me imitate his stance. "Feet always well grounded. Most important thing, if you take aim, be prepared to kill. Always expect recoil, and without ear protection, a shot will make your ears ring for hours."

  The weapon felt foreign in my hands. The thought of adding it to my satchel—next to my precious athame and healing wand—filled me with nausea. But it was worth taking the gun to get the amulet around Glynn’s neck. After all, I didn’t have to use it, I had alternatives.

  He grabbed another gun and cartridges, and turned away from me. He could be as angry with me as he liked. I’d go with them, and I was using my own methods. End of discussion.

  I'd seen one jeep and it had gone. I hadn't seen any stables, heard any horses. "How will we get to this building?"

  Glynn raked his fingers across his scalp. His cropped hair stuck up in odd spikes. "We'll have to cycle, it's not far. You can ride a bicycle?"

  "Since I was four years old." I smirked at him. He’d be disappointed if he thought lack of cycling experience would keep me at Del’s place tied to the bed.

  "Lucky you're a short-ass." Del glanced at me. "You can ride Aidan's old bike."

  She half-grinned at Glynn.

  Kid's bike or not they weren't leaving me behind. I followed them into a neat garage. She pointed to the corner. A black bike leaned against the wall. It was clean, the tires pumped up, and with a working dynamo light attached to the wheel's hub. I perched on the seat, my toes just touched the ground. It was perfect, as if meant for me. Aidan dashed to the tunnels to find his father, now I borrowed his old bicycle to race after him.

  I’d rather have Aidan at home, his head in the book. But this black cloud had a silver lining. We’d be going to the exact place I wanted to see.

  9

  We left Del's house with the sun's long rays stretching out our shadows. I'd seen a vision of Aidan in the city, now we had to find him. Rolling my shoulders, I stretched my head from side to side.

  Glynn wouldn’t approve, but somehow, I had to get away to explore the tunnels on my own. If a group of dead worked together under the city, I wanted to know about it.

  Del led the way, while Glynn and I followed behind her single file. We pedaled past brown and wilting gardens in front of shuttered houses. The pungent odor of road tar competed with intense jasmine perfume. Every hundred yards or so large square streetlights twisted their mirrors to soak up the last of the sunlight. Roads and pavements had been mended repeatedly until they were a lumpy patchwork of different colored bitumen. Large shady trees grew along the curb and in gardens. The people who lived here cared for their homes. Perhaps they were all for soldiers and their families, I hadn't thought to ask Del or Glynn.

  After ten minutes or so, Del stood up on the pedals and raced ahead.

  "Where are you going?" Glynn called out.

  "This is the shortest way," Del shouted over her shoulder.

  "Stop." Glynn's brakes squealed to a sudden halt.

  I skidded to a stop behind Glynn. Del pedaled like mad, her head down and body taut.

  "She won't wait for us."

  "She bloody well better," Glynn shouted into the distance, his arms folded tightly across his chest.

  She sat up on the seat, turned the handles and cycled back. "We haven't g
ot time to waste traveling the safe path."

  "The abandoned suburbs aren't patrolled regularly, you know that."

  "My son can't wait."

  "Do you think I want him harmed?" Glynn’s jaw could have been set in stone.

  They glowered at one another.

  I pushed my handlebars between them. "What's in the abandoned suburbs?"

  "Possibly nothing. Or something." Glynn took a deep breath. "We rarely patrol them. For all we know, the undead troublemakers are breeding in there. There's little lighting, the roads are a mess—"

  Del squeezed her arms across her abdomen. "The regular path takes us around the city, and if we cross a patrol they'll question what we're doing."

  "I can deal with any patrol we meet." Glynn lifted his front wheel and thumped it against the ground.

  "But how much longer would it take?" I asked.

  He shrugged. "If we made it through the abandoned suburbs, I guess we'd hit the outskirts of the city in half an hour or so."

  "By the path?" I pushed him for an answer.

  Del answered. "At least twice that long just with the riding. Possibly a lot longer if we met a patrol. Especially one that doesn't like our Major Buckley here."

  A long history and shared confidences simmered in the air between them.

  "Looks like you have the deciding vote, Meagan." Glynn kept his gaze on Del's face.

  Great. If I chose the slower option, it would be my fault for taking too long to get to the city. If I chose the faster option, it would be my fault if an undead creature I couldn't deal with stopped us in our tracks. Aidan’s safety won.

  "I can deal with anything undead." I pushed confidence into my tone. "That's what I'm here for. If it's anything else, you two have got enough ammunition strapped to your bodies to deal with it."

  Del burst out laughing. "I'm starting to like her."

  Glynn turned his face to me and shook his head, but with a half-smile.

  The route settled, Del took off again. Glynn sped after her. I stood up on the pedals and raced after them.

  A steel fence crisscrossed ahead. It stretched as far as I could see to the left, as far as I could see to the right, with no gate or break in sight.