by Leo Romero
I looked at her like she’d just sprouted a second nose. “Are you kidding? How could I tell her? It would totally mess her life up.”
“It might make it better. Might make her appreciate what you’ve had to go through. Then she might not act so spoiled.”
I weighed it up in my mind. “You might have a point.”
“She probably makes these crazy demands to make up for the lost time between you both. If she knew why you’d had less time for her, she might buck her ideas up.”
I smiled at her. “Hey, you wanna trade? You for Lucy? Me for Bracken? Things might be better that way.”
“They’d probably get on like a house on fire. At least my father would be able to magic up anything she wanted.”
I chuckled. “You’re probably right.”
Something moving between the trees caught my attention. A lithe woman in tight pants, her ponytail bouncing on the air behind her. I squinted my eyes. Is that Belinda?
“I think I know that woman,” Aurora said, verifying what I was thinking.
I nodded. “It’s Belinda.” I knew because she was holding her twin pistols, Jack and Jill, as she scrammed through the trees. What’s she running away from?
I got my answer once a giant body swooped in after her.
Aurora gasped. “Whoa!”
I jumped to my feet, right as the gargoyle threw out a fist, catching Belinda in the back. She let out a yell as she hit the grass. She rolled over and aimed her pistols at the gargoyle hovering over her.
Jack and Jill erupted like firecrackers, the sound chattering through the air. There were small pings and clicks as the bullets hit the gargoyle’s granite-like torso and bounced off. Even though Jack and Jill were loaded with magic-laced bullets, they weren’t making a scratch on that stone bastard. Eventually, Jack and Jill ran out of juice. Belinda threw her arms out to the sides, her chest heaving. Her bulging eyes stared on in cold horror as the gargoyle pulled back its arms to deliver a killer blow.
That kicked my ass into gear. “No!” I shouted, racing over there like my head was on fire.
Both the gargoyle and Belinda’s heads spun my way.
“Gabe!” Belinda exclaimed in a mix of shock and surprise.
“Uh!” came the gargoyle’s stony growl, his face contorted even harder and uglier than it was before. I came to a skidding halt, about to grab Bam Bam and go to work, when Aurora raced up next to me. I caught a glimpse of her sucking in a big breath.
I threw out a hand. “Aurora, no!”
Too late. She shot a siren blast at the gargoyle. A sonic wave of infernal sound stormed through the air, colliding with the gargoyle and nearby trees. The raucous sound assaulted my tender eardrums, and I threw my hands up to my ears to protect them. I looked down and Belinda was doing the same. The noise reverberated through the park, causing animals and birds to rudely awaken from their sleep and scatter. Any remaining leaves on the trees rustled, the branches breaking in places, the trunks bending. One of them uprooted; it teetered and then came back down once Aurora stopped screaming. The noise petered out into the night. But the gargoyle was unaffected. Noise magic didn’t work so hot against stone.
“You almost killed one of Old Gnarly’s nephews!” I said to her.
Before she could respond, the gargoyle lunged. I pulled out Bam Bam and stepped forward.
“Let him have it!” Bam Bam said as I pulled the trigger. There was a hollow ‘duff’ sound as a blast slug shot out of the muzzle. It struck the gargoyle in the torso, where it exploded on impact with an intense bang. Magic sparks and pixie dust showered outward, the blow sending the gargoyle flying backward. A blackened mark now adorned his chest, a pockmark at the center of it. Man, even Eldrin’s exploding slugs barely made a dent in this sucker. But I could tell from the way he growled that the slug hurt. So I fired again, catching him on the upper arm this time. A small chunk of stone erupted from the explosion, more magic sparks and pixie dust raining down on the grass. The gargoyle flailed for a moment, a hoarse cry of anguish bolting from his twisted mouth.
I cranked open Bam Bam and fished another couple of slugs from my jacket pocket as fast as I could. I managed to jam the slugs into the muzzle, flip the shotgun closed, and aim all in one motion. My finger curled on the trigger when the gargoyle abruptly shot up into the air, its wings flapping like crazy as he spun away. I threw up my aim and fired. The slug caught the thing in the ass. An actual rocket up the ass. Nice. His buttock exploded into a beautiful shower of dust and sparks. He let out a stony yelp, grabbing hold of his burned ass cheek as he flapped his wings with more fury. I watched him shoot up toward the sky as I aimed again. I went to shoot but pulled back. He was too far away. I growled in frustration. I wanted to go after him and waste him. If I had Pegasus in my Deck of Death, I could’ve called him and given chase. That made me want to get hold of that flying horse even more. I cursed my luck. I really wanted to get that thing off my case. I let out a huff and turned my attention back to Belinda. Aurora was helping her up to her feet.
“Thanks, Stone,” Belinda said, holstering Jack and Jill.
“You got greenlighted by the cartel too?” I asked, hardly believing what I just saw.
Belinda’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“That thing was after me the other day outside the Guild.”
“That thing has been after every angel bounty hunter it sees,” Belinda said, crossing her arms over her chest. “It killed Connor Briggs the other day.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you know? I filed a Z99 after it happened. You should’ve seen it by now.”
A pang of guilt hit me. “Uh... Haven’t got round to it.”
“Well, let me fill you in. Connor and I were planning on splitting the bounty on a mean son-of-a-bitch mud demon when that thing showed up from nowhere and took out Connor. For some reason, it left me alone and flew off. I’ve been after it ever since and it’s been after me.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You mean to say that gargoyle killed Connor, it tried to kill me, and now it tried to kill...” The cogs of my mind turned and pieces of the puzzle slotted into place. “You,” I finished, my eyes widening. I grabbed my head. “Holy crap!”
“What’s wrong, Gabe?” Aurora asked.
“We’ve got to get back to the Guild!”
Chapter 5
I raced through the streets on my Harley, Aurora riding with me. The night air rushed through my hair as I weaved in and out of traffic like a man possessed. I’d missed something; I knew it. Something that could’ve maybe saved a life or two. I prayed it wasn’t the case or it was more dirt on my soul. Not like I needed more. I dumped my bike on the sidewalk outside the Guild and looked around with wide eyes, half-expecting a gargoyle to come landing on my head. I noticed Brutus wasn’t on the door. I gulped.
Aurora raced up behind me. “What is it, Gabe?”
I didn’t answer. Instead, I stormed into the Guild and raced down the stairs to the club area, almost falling down them in my haste. I burst through the door and looked around. Jerome was standing behind the bar, putting out bottles of potions. Did that guy ever go home?
He must’ve heard me rushing in because he turned to face me. “Gabriel?” he said with a frown.
I went straight past him, not breaking stride. “Where’s Brutus?” I asked as I went.
“At home. Nursing a headache.”
He wasn’t dead. At least that was something.
“I need to speak with you,” Jerome said.
“Haven’t got time,” I replied, rushing over to my desk. Those gray Z99 forms still sat there. Now even more. I shook my head, guilt and regret and fear all rising inside the pit of my stomach like a noxious witches’ brew. I licked my dry lips with an equally dry tongue and ripped off the top sheet on the pile, sweat plastering my forehead. I scanned it, dread smothering my mind.
Alexis Bianchi. Death by bludgeoning.
It was dated today.
I picked
up the next one.
Amanda Hooper. Crushed to death.
It was dated yesterday.
I grabbed up all the papers and rifled through them. Almost every one said the same thing. Death by crushing, beaten to death, mauled to death, bludgeoned. And every now and then a word would pop up. Gargoyle. The words crush, death, bludgeon, and gargoyle repeated themselves over and over in front of me like a grim carousel.
I’d got it wrong. The gargoyle wasn’t targeting me. It was targeting half-angel bounty hunters. And it was killing us. One by one.
Jerome came to join us. “I wanted to speak to you about those,” he said, making me whirl to face him.
I threw the papers down by my thigh. “About what?”
“The paperwork you’re supposed to be getting through. There’s been a lot of it recently.”
I rubbed my head. I had to tell him what I knew. I had no choice. “Jerome, listen. What happened earlier to Brutus...”
“Yes, he was incoherent. Said he got a bang on the head after speaking with you and couldn’t remember anything, so I sent him home.”
“It was a gargoyle,” I told him. “It’s targeting angel bounty hunters. It almost killed me earlier. I thought it was just going after me, but almost all of these forms mention either gargoyles or crushing or bludgeoning. I was just in Lincoln Park. I watched it almost kill Belinda.”
Jerome took the sheets from me and began reading them.
I met Aurora’s concerned stare. “Why is this thing targeting angels?” she asked.
“Hmm, that’s what we’re going to have to find out,” Jerome said.
“But I’m in the middle of an investigation for Bracken.”
“Don’t worry about Skalanis for now, Gabe,” said Aurora. “This is way more urgent. We need to find out what this gargoyle’s deal is with the Angel Guild.”
I gave her a solemn nod. She was right. Skalanis could wait. We needed to sort out this gargoyle business before the son-of-a-bitch snuffed out any more half-angels. The problem was the bastard was as tough as boots. Eldrin’s blast slugs could probably take him down eventually, but he’d just fly off before I could kill him. I needed to fly after him. I didn’t want to risk the ire of the higher uppers by abusing L45 forms—I already got reprimanded for doing that. They didn’t like having fully-charged, winged angels flying around the place. And there was no way of knowing where or when the gargoyle would strike next. I needed to be able to fly as and when I needed to. And that meant only one thing. Winning Pegasus. I had to think of a way of getting into that poker game and win him. But being banned on the Netherworld Strip, there was no way I could play.
Then it hit me. Maybe I didn’t need to play. I could get a substitute. But it would have to be someone who wasn’t known in the Netherworld. That ruled out almost everyone from the Guild. A thought struck me and a plan started to form in my mind. I knew just the guy. I hoped he was still alive.
*****
I took us to Humboldt Park, where we stopped outside the small store with goth paraphernalia and brightly colored magic stuff displayed in the windows. I was disappointed to see the shutters down over the entrance. I went up to the window and tried to get a look inside. It was too dark to see anything.
Aurora got off my bike and looked up at the sign over the store. “Zane’s World of Magic?” she read. “You planning on making the gargoyle disappear?”
“Yeah, I’m gonna disappear the bastard all right. I just need some help to do it.” I growled to myself in frustration at not being able to see anything inside the store. “Ah forget it!” I rapped on the steel shutter. “Zane! Zane! You in there? It’s Gabriel Stone. Get out here!”
No answer. I gulped. I really hoped the kid got away from the gargoyle. If the gargoyle was targeting angels, Zane should have been in no danger. Yeah, he was an annoying so and so, but that wasn’t enough reason to stomp him to death or anything.
“I don’t think anyone’s in,” Aurora said.
“He’s usually out the back after hours practicing magic spells and brewing potions.”
“Is he a wizard or something?”
“He wishes.” I banged on the shutter again. “Zane! Come on, open up!”
Worry brewed in my stomach. I really hoped he was okay. He saved my life earlier, and I didn’t want his demise on my conscience for the rest of my days. Little bastard could save that for someone else. I turned away and let out a despondent breath. I was about to leave, when small tinkering sounds played out behind me. I spun to face the shutter, just as it zipped upward with a rattling whoosh!
Standing behind the glass door was Zane. And he didn’t look to have any bludgeoning or crushing damage to him. I let out a relieved breath.
Zane met my stare and then got the door open. “Mr. Stone? Am I glad to see you!”
“Likewise. You get away from that gargoyle okay?”
He rubbed his head. “Just about. I led it down an alley where it cornered me in.”
“Holy moly!”
“Yeah. It was a close shave. But I managed to escape.”
“How?”
He gave me a wry grin. “A magician never reveals his tricks.” He noticed Aurora standing behind me and his demeanor changed like the wind. “Hell-o!” he said. “Who do we have here?”
Visions of Lando Calrissian first meeting Princess Leia flashed in my mind. I rolled my eyes.
“Aurora,” she answered with a sheepish grin.
Zane walked past me, shoving me away like I wasn’t there.
“Hey!” I said in surprise at the little guy’s arrogance, but he didn’t seem to hear me. I watched him in bemusement as he stepped right up to Aurora with a big grin on his face and one of his eyebrows arched.
He flipped his hand and a rose bud appeared in the center of his palm. Aurora’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise. He wiggled the fingers of his other hand over the bud and it bloomed outward into a bright-red rose. Aurora gasped. With the arrogance of a pickup artist, Zane clicked his fingers over the rose. There was a small pop, a flash, and a puff of smoke from which a rose-red butterfly appeared and fluttered away into the night sky.
Aurora put both her hands up to her mouth. “Wow!”
With that smug grin still on his face, Zane held out his hand. “I’m Zane. Welcome to my world of magic.”
Aurora took his hand and Zane placed a kiss upon it. By then, I’d had enough.
“Oh for Chrissakes! Just get in the damn store! We need to talk and we don’t have much time!” I frantically ushered them both into the store.
“You old romantic you, Mr. Stone,” Zane said, scuttling along while I pushed him.
“I haven’t got time for romance when my life is screwed. Aurora, close up the shutter.”
She followed us in and pulled the shutter back down. A couple of seconds later, the interior lights flashed on, lighting up all the junk in the store. Weird masks adorned the walls—half-yellow faces grinning and happy, their red halves with sad, drooping mouths. Some depicted skeletons, while others were opaque, ghost-like faces. Next to those were pumpkin heads and warty, green-skinned witches. Stuffed reptiles were pinned to the walls, giving the appearance of them climbing above shelves lined with cheap, gimmicky magic tricks—firecrackers, fake vampire fangs, fake blood, stink bombs, werewolf claws, fake severed feet and dangling arms, witches’ wigs, and x-ray specs. The overhead lights rotated slow, decorating the ceiling with moving stars and crescent moons that alternated in color—inky blue, starlight yellow, grass green.
It was Harry Houdini Heaven.
One of those creepy fortune telling machines was over to my right, similar to the one that turned Tom Hanks Big overnight. The name ‘Zoltan’ was emblazoned over his creepy smiling dummy head. He stared right at me with his disturbing painted eyes. I tried my best to ignore him.
Opposite him stood an Egyptian sarcophagus. I hoped there was nothing in it. I actually had an encounter with a mummy one time after some rich aristocrat decided to im
port a similar sarcophagus to impress his buddies. The dolt gathered everyone around, champagne glasses in hand, and opened the sucker up. Well, the once dormant mummy waiting inside wasn’t too pleased to have his sleep disturbed and staggered outta there with its arms outstretched, grabbing the nearest rich asshole by the throat. He throttled him so hard his toupee fell off.
Man, there’s a lot of gray and musk and dust beneath those bandages lemme tell you. Was sneezing the whole time I was trying to kill the bastard. Earned my bread that day.
I watched Aurora twirl in a circle, her mouth agape as she took it all in. “This place is amazing.”
Zane leaned an arm against a counter. “Sure is,” he said, pride stamped all over his face.
“We’ll have plenty of time for tricks and magic later,” I said.
Zane sighed. “Okay, Mr. Stone. But it’s getting late and I need some rest after today’s exertions.”
“Uh-uh, buddy. You’re not getting any rest tonight. I need you for something.”
“And what would that be?”
“Grab a deck of cards. I’m sure you’ve got plenty sitting around here.”
“Of course. Tarot? Oracle? Credit?”
“Don’t get smart. You know I mean playing cards.”
“No problem, Mr. Stone. So, what are we doing?”
“You’ll see.”
*****
I let out an exasperated breath. “No, no, no! Four of a kind beats a full house!”
Zane stared down at the cards, his brow knotted. “I...don’t get it,” he said with a shake of his head.
“It isn’t rocket science.”
“It is to me.”
I grabbed my cheeks. I’d been trying to teach him the rules of poker for hours. I needed him to get up to speed fast. The game was tomorrow night and he’d have to be my substitute player. But Zane had never played poker in his life. He only used the cards for magic tricks. It was like trying to explain the internet to an Ancient Greek. At any other time, I would’ve given up, but no one knew him in the Netherworld, which gave us the advantage we’d need. And with his familiarity and abilities with magic, he could make the transition to the Netherworld without getting the shock of his life.
