Second Sight: The Rune Sight Chronicles

by Boyd Craven III

  I finished my fries and started to scan the future and then stopped immediately as a waitress walked by. I flagged her down.

  “Get you something, Hun?” she asked.

  “Can I get some fruit? Grapes, banana, something like that?”

  “I’ve got fruit cups,” she said after a moment.

  “I’ll take two,” I told her.

  She left, and there was a quiet popping sound. Zania looked up and around, but I felt Rose’s weight settle down on my shoulder, feeling the air movement from her wings against the small hairs on my neck.

  “Can you hear me?” she asked.

  I knew she wasn’t talking to me, and the other three nodded.

  “It’s his place. Sorry it took so long, but I think I found a clue. Vassago likes to gamble, at least he does lately.”

  15

  Night had fallen while we’d eaten at the diner and Rose had filled us in, then in whispered tones, I told her what I needed. If Vivian recognized the address, she didn’t act like it. I’d staged Dana and JJ at one of the emergency exits, with Kiersten and Zania at the front, while Vivian and I walked to the front doors.

  “Excuse me, sir—”

  “Steven,” I said, putting my arm around Vivian’s waist, playing a part. “How you doing, man?”

  “That’s… What’s going on?” Steven said, stepping in front of the doorway, his hulking frame blocking us.

  “I know, you knocked me out last time. Sort of embarrassing, not my best work,” Vivian said.

  “I… she… you?” he asked, looking at us.

  “It’s okay, old friend,” I said and held my hand out.

  His grip was cold as always, but I knew he could read my thoughts. The undead’s gifts were numerous, and the immortal only hesitated half a moment.

  “She flipped you?” he asked me.

  I let go and pulled my necklace out, showing him the pentacle. Vivian did as well.

  “He’s sort of my boss now,” Vivian said. “Sort of.”

  “I… Business or pleasure?” he asked, totally off his game.

  “Both,” I told him, then pulled out the copy of the driver’s license we’d gotten earlier in the day and showed it to him.

  He took half a glance at it and nodded, then I put it back in my suit jacket. He saw the pistol grips out of my pants and the athame sheathed near my side, tucked in where the jacket in place it wasn’t visible.

  “You can’t come in here armed,” he told me quietly.

  “Council business, personal pleasure, and a debt to repay,” I told him.

  Steven licked his lips and then looked behind him. “Terry, you got the door for the next ten minutes.”

  “Got it,” a voice said from behind the doors somewhere and another man, even bigger than the mutant biker vamp was, took Steven’s place.

  “Come on,” Steven said, and I followed him.

  “Where are we going?” Vivian asked me.

  “To repay an old debt and give him the no bullshit, so he doesn’t think I’m being coerced.”

  “I know you’re not,” Steven said, walking down an alley that was made for the trash disposal trucks to come and empty dumpsters.

  We stopped next to one, and the fragrant smell of trash permeated the air next to the dumpster. Steven pulled out a flash from his back pocket and upended it. Then he pulled a small funnel out from his inner pocket of his coat. Did I mention Steven looked like a biker whose steroids ate steroids and was stuffed into a too small suit? I had no idea how that funny little yellow plastic funnel fit, but it did.

  “Hand?” he asked me.

  “I… Dammit, timing on this sucks,” I told him.

  “If you’re on council business, it might be my last shot,” he said. “Want me to heal it afterward?”

  “Wait, I thought, isn’t that just a movie thing?” I asked him.

  “Yeah, was messing with you.”

  “Got a knife?” I asked him.

  “You got two,” he said.

  “Two?” Vivian asked, and I cringed inwardly.

  “They are runed for an effect I don’t want to hit myself with,” I told him.

  “Ah, well then… Um… This is awkward…”

  I checked the futures where I cut myself with the athame and what effect it would have. I found… nothing. Interesting.

  “Never mind,” I said, pulling out the athame with my left hand and ran it across the meaty part of my palm on my right hand, wincing and gritting my teeth against the intentional pain.

  Usually, when I paid him, we had one of his medic friends nearby with blood draw equipment, but this wasn’t planned so I gritted my teeth and squeezed my fist over the small funnel.

  “Remember, I said a cup, and that’s about half this flask,” he said, catching the blood dripping with the funnel.

  “I know,” I told him.

  “Wait, why does he want your blood?” Vivian asked.

  “Don’t freak out but…” I told her and then Steven looked up and flashed her a smile, his canines extended.

  “Shit,” Vivian said, almost falling over backward.

  “Don’t worry,” I told her, half turning, “he’s one of the good guys.”

  “No I’m not,” Steven said immediately. “Wait, forget you heard that,” he added quickly.

  “He owns part of a blood bank here in town. He’s not preying on the innocent,” I told her.

  “She on the level?” he asked me.

  “She’s tried to kill me a few times, but overall, she’s not bad for a kiddo.”

  “Kiddo?” Vivian said, her eyes flashing.

  “Shhhhh, love, grownups talking here,” Steven told her, which just made her eyes go wide with a surprised, angry look.

  “So how much does the council know about this area?” Steven asked me.

  “Not much. It’s been a quiet spot for the most part,” I told him.

  “Good, so that succubus outbreak up the road a ways didn’t hit their radar?”

  “No, you guys paid me to get in and out quietly.”

  “Succubus outbreak?” Vivian asked.

  It was weird, standing there, bleeding on purpose. The blood welled out of the gash freely, and it was warm and dropping off the end of my hand. I tried to concentrate on anything but that, but my eyes kept going back to the blood.

  “Had us a few move into town. I mean, succubae and brothels go hand in hand, right? Usually, I don’t care too much when other paranormals travel through, even stick around for a while. But these went full on predatory and started killing their victims. I told them they were going too far, and we almost had ourselves a little paranormal uprising. I can take care of pretty much anything out here, your puppies included,” he said looking back at me, “but it’s all politics. So I hired an outsider to kill the killers.”

  “Which is how I met Steven,” I added. “By the way, what do you mean politics?”

  “Oh, I own the casino,” he told me.

  I jerked in surprise, but before I could spill blood outside of the funnel, Steven’s iron grip held my wrist firm.

  “No shit?” I asked him.

  “No shit,” he said. “What better cover job than a doorman? I can see who comes in and out, I can scan the minds for any cheats and troublemakers… that should do it,” he told me.

  I pulled my hand back. After licking the funnel clean and capping his flask, he reached into his front suit pocket and pulled out a white linen handkerchief and gave it to me. I wrapped it around my hand.

  “You own the… Wow. I didn’t see that one coming,” I told him.

  “I’m sort of the unofficial mayor of the paranormal world out here. The Weres take care of their own, but all of Vegas is my domain. Parts of the desert too, but just don’t go digging holes west of town if you get my meaning.”

  “He’s a mobster vampire,” Vivian said, shuddering.

  “Sort of. I just run a very warm and caring club. Now, tell me about this guy who isn’t the real Tim Curry.�
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  “Life mage, assassin. Has a shitty apartment on Hollywood Boulevard. He’s the one who killed my parents.”

  Steven raised an eyebrow. “And the council wants him?”

  “In the worst way,” Vivian said. “Want to help out?”

  “No way,” Steven said, putting both hands up. “I stay out of council business. Besides, it’d blow my cover with my own people or the police, and I don’t need the fuzz after me. Last time I had to fade, it took me ten years before I could come back. Something I told you that you should do yourself,” Steven looked at me.

  “I can’t. This is more than just personal,” I told him.

  “It’s business. Well, I understand that business too; otherwise, I wouldn’t have hired a hard ass like you to be the boogeyman. Shit, they still talk about how you snuck in and out.”

  “It wasn’t me, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I told him.

  He looked at me funny then busted up laughing. When I didn’t join in, he stopped.

  “I don’t talk about that side of my life much,” I told him. “That was twenty or thirty years ago.”

  “That it was. Still feels like yesterday,” he said, twisting the cap off his flask and taking a swig. “Man, I love that taste. You’re like a finely aged McClellan.”

  “That’s not creepy or anything,” Vivian said, a hint of disgust in her voice.

  “You get used to it,” I told her. “So can I go in your casino and get the bad guy?”

  “You going to bust the place up?” he asked. “Cause a scene?”

  “Nope. Hopefully, he’ll come out willingly and talk. I can’t make a public scene anyway. Against treaties, rules, blah blah blah.”

  “Blah blah blah,” Vivian mimicked.

  “She’s a live one, eh? She looked pretty good draped over your arm that night she tried to kidnap you.”

  “Were you always like this? I can’t imagine an eternity where somebody would have to be just like you,” Vivian snapped back.

  “She is feisty,” he added admiringly. “Keep her close, mage, she might be a keeper.”

  “You know my rules about women,” I told him.

  “Yeah, you leave with a different one every night. Lucky bastard.”

  Vivian turned her disgusted look on me, but I didn’t want to tell her I was hiring call girls to be arm candy as part of my disguise. After my flophouse in New York City, she’d never have believed me. Better she doesn’t know all the details.

  “All right. Listen, I’m going to head in. I’ll do my best. At worst, things might spill out back, away from the main strip.”

  “If the council is involved, just make sure if you need to call a cleaning crew you do it fast. I don’t want this hurting my business.”

  I nodded to the dealer, and he gave the security guard a look. The table was cleared out, but when Vassago went to stand, the guard put his hand on Vassago’s shoulder and gave him a gentle push. He sat back down looking up at the guard. I figured he was debating giving him some sort of cancer, heart attack or an aneurysm, but that was the moment I chose to sit down. Under the table, I drew both pistols. He caught the movement and turned, clearly startled. I made a get lost head gesture to the dealer and guard, and they left in a hurry. It hadn’t taken long to find Vassago and have Steven arrange for this to happen.

  “Mr. Wright, what a delightful surprise,” Vassago said from across the expanse of green felt.

  “Do I call you Vassago or Tim Curry?” I asked him softly, “And before you answer, I’ve got two pistols trained on your midsection.”

  “Those will hardly kill me, no matter what you load them with.”

  “This time, conflagration runes with an accelerant. Not really safe to use in a space like this but it should blow a hole through you the size of a basketball and then set you on fire.”

  “Nasty. Still, you didn’t fire first.”

  “What should I call you?” I asked him.

  I looked into the futures checking for violence and saw… nothing. Not anytime soon.

  “Vassago seems really informal. How about you call me… David.”

  “David,” I said with a chuckle and felt Vivian’s hand rest on my shoulder.

  “Yes, I’ve been so many people over the years, I can hardly remember what my actual name is. You chose this current one for me, not the Curry name, but the David Bowie moniker.”

  “So, David, you understand I’ve got this place surrounded?”

  “I was kind of hoping you did, though I’m a little bit upset that you brought along an audience,” he looked up at Vivian.

  “Why would that be?” I asked.

  “Because, I came here to your place, gambling at your favorite card game, without altering my appearance. One might think I might even be doing it to make it easy for you to find me.”

  “Why would you do that?” Vivian asked.

  “Surely now, what is it to you?” he asked Vivian, no malice in his voice, just cold, calm confidence. “You’ve done more to try to kill this man than I have.”

  I shifted a little uncomfortably and holstered the gun on my left side and then switched hands with my remaining gun so I could use my injured hand to touch the pommel of the athame under my coat.

  “We’ve been sent to bring you in,” Vivian said, “The House of—”

  “Do not say it here, not now, not out loud,” Vassago said tersely, surprising Vivian with the vicious nature and his changed expression, “and I’d quite like to speak with Wright alone. I know your little paranoid mind thinks this is a trap, so I suggest you step back and let us talk.”

  “Thomas?” she asked.

  “Keep us in visual, but if he wants some privacy, I’m willing to play for the moment. As it is, it’ll just look like two high rollers asking for a moment of privacy.”

  “Is that an order?” she asked me, full of piss.

  “Yes,” I told her dismissively and turned back to Vassago.

  She made an exasperated sound, and I could hear her footsteps for a couple seconds as she stomped off before I lost her in the background noise of the casino.

  “So, you made it easy for me to find you,” I told him after a moment.

  “Yes. As soon as my contacts told me you’d headed to the auction house, I put two and two together. The book, you have it?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied.

  “Good, I like this game,” he said, his British accent starting to get under my skin. “You realize, I can tell when you’re lying by seeing your heart rate go up?”

  “Dammit,” I told him, realizing this was the truth.

  “So you have the book. Good. Better you have it than me.”

  “Wait, what? Why?” I asked, confused.

  “Much like you, somebody else is pulling my strings. Go here, kill this person, go there, buy this artifact. Heal the Empress’s vassals. Most days I feel like a bloody ragdoll the way she yanks me about.”

  “So why are you with the… with them?” I asked him. “And what contacts? You have people within the Bureau?”

  “My contacts are my business, but you can pretty much take it to the bank that the Bureau is firmly in our pocket,” Vassago confirmed. “As for the rest… what would you do, Thomas, if you were married and had a kid?”

  “Keep them away from the magical community,” I said at once.

  “Yes. Because somebody can take them away, kill them. Use them—”

  “As leverage?” I finished.

  “Yes… You know, you and I are much alike. It’s the reason why I was only going to stun you in the Arches. I see a lot of myself in you, except you are better about entanglements. God, I must have three dozen offspring around the world. You have no idea how the last twenty or thirty years have been… but I digress. My daughter, they have my daughter.”

  “I don’t believe you,” I said, feeling the urge to start firing.

  “I don’t care if you do or not. If I wanted you dead, a simple
touch would have done it. I will admit though, the first time on the mountain? Good show, you surprised me. I was going to fulfill the contract then and there.”

  “Why did you gate?” I asked him.

  “I realized that you might have the power to succeed where your father failed.”

  “You killed my father!”

  “Under orders. Khrystiana has had my daughter hostage for more years than you have been alive.”

  “But the break from the council didn’t happen until after you killed my—”

  Vassago laughed, and that was when I noticed he was wearing thin gloves. The latex types. Clear. Why would he do that if his magic worked by touch?

  “Khrystiana had been working and moving in the shadows, setting things up long before she broke off with them. Rumor has it, before your mother, Khrystiana and the Merlin were lovers.”

  “You lie,” I said softly.

  “Ahhh, so you do know about your father. I hadn’t been for sure until now. I truly didn’t want to hurt your father, he was always a kind man to me.”

  “You… you knew my father?” I asked him.

  “Worked for him. I was senior council. I bet you that old fuzzputz Rasmussen is still around, you can ask him.”

  “Wait… this is too much. You worked for my father?” I asked him my hand tightening on the grip of the M&P, thankful that Zania had healed my hand well.

  “Who do you think… do you ever wonder why… It’s how I knew it was really you. On the hillside there.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked him.

  “Dear boy, do you ever wonder who assisted your father in blocking your magic?”

  “You? I’m supposed to believe you were the one who… No. You’re using personal knowledge to manipulate the situation.”

  “And what situation are we discussing? I merely wanted to talk.”

  I took a deep breath and switched the pistol to my right hand and wiped the sweat off of my left on my pant leg. “I am supposed to bring you in for your crimes.”

  “And so they can squeeze me for info about the organization?”

  I nodded.

  “Rasmussen put you up to this?” he asked after a second.