Anything. He would do anything I asked of him, within his power, if I helped him save his daughter. I’d come to find this man was responsible for the death of my father, for my life on the run with my mother, the reason I’d shunned normal society as a result. The bastard was sitting right next to me…
“and I’m eating a burger sitting next to him,” I finished the thought aloud, turning to my food.
“It could be worse,” Rose said quietly from my shoulder.
“I doubt that,” I told her simply.
19
I agreed to meet with Vassago the next day, but first, I needed my ace in the hole.
“Bureau of Investigations,” a feminine voice said.
“I need Rasmussen,” I said, my voice rough from the night before.
“Can I ask who’s calling?”
“Wright,” I told her.
“Please hold.” I got elevator music of all things, so I sat there and waited, watching my screens on the computer screens, a YouTube video playing music softly on the side.
“I bet Cindy would be delighted to know you listen to Linsey Stirling,” Rose said, laughing.
“It’s relaxing. Helps me think,” I told her, not caring she was poking fun at me.
My alarm sirens went off, and I almost flew off my seat. I hit the button to activate everything, and then my doorbell went off. I switched the camera view and saw it was Rasmussen.
“Sir, I’m having a hard time getting ahold of—”
“We’re good,” I told her and hung up, then silenced the alarm.
“Thomas,” I heard from the PA outside the front door, and I hit the button to answer.
“Be right there,” I told him, then took off like a shot.
“Want me to close out the windows?” Rose called.
“No, he’s not quite expected. I was waiting for him to pick up the phone,” I said as I put my palm up so I could unlock the door.
The vault door seemingly took forever to unlock, and I was pulling the ten-ton door open, assisting the hydraulics.
“Boss, is this weird, or what?” Rose asked me.
“Yes, I don’t know why he’s here. I don’t think he got the phone call, so this has to be bad news,” I said squeezing out the gap and going for the front door.
“Going dark, boss,” Rose said and faded into invisibility.
She was the paranoid one, wasn’t she? I took note of that and opened the front door without bothering to close up the still opening bunker door behind me.
“Thomas,” Rasmussen said as I opened the door.
“Sigmund. What are you doing here?” I asked him.
“You called, I gated. Have you any news?”
“Yes, quite a bit. Where you able to use the blood for a tracking spell?”
“Yes, but the three men we sent after her haven’t returned. We fear the worst.”
Oh shit.
“Dammit.”
“Indeed. May I?”
“Yeah, sure. I need to talk to you, I’ve got a lead and an idea.”
“You made contact with Vassago, and you didn’t immediately contact us?” Rasmussen was shaking with rage.
“You want to Jedi mind trick me or listen?” I asked him.
“I’m having a very difficult time understanding what or why you are—”
“Get your thumb out of your ass,” Rose said, exploding into a rainbow of glitter.
“Hermosa,” he said, his voice a little softer.
“It’s Rose. I haven’t been Hermosa for a long time now. You listened to his story, you know everything he knows. I was there, Cindy was there. You know who Cindy is, hell you know who her flipping father was you ignorant piece of—”
“Rose,” he about yelled, spittle flying.
“You know Cindy’s father?” I asked him softly.
“Knew, he’s been gone for a while now. His mother was quite the mind mage. It’s sort of a small club,” he said in a softer tone but shot Rose a dirty look.
“And you didn’t say anything because… ?”
“Because it had absolutely nothing to do with any of this. Did you tell me about your ninth grade girlfriend?”
“Why would I—”
“No. Because it doesn’t matter.”
“You dated Cindy’s grandma?” I asked him.
“You know what? Shut it,” Rasmussen said, totally disturbed.
I was somewhat shocked, and part of me wanted to laugh, but it was all too surreal. As amused as I was, I was finally shocked into silence.
“Wait, you actually dated her?” Rose asked.
“No!”
“Sheesh, I thought I was learning something new—”
“Please, let’s get back on topic. Why didn’t you alert us when Vassago entered the diner?”
“Because he wasn’t lying. That’s Cindy’s gift.”
“Ahhh, now it’s starting to make sense,” he said, understanding lighting his eyes. “He comes in there where it’s public and tells you the absolute truth with a way for you to verify it.”
“Yes, and with it public, we had to behave ourselves, though I did get a few raised eyebrows when I put my 1911 in his ear,” I said, feeling a little smug.
“I’m sure that raised a few eyebrows.”
“Half the diner went dead silent, it was like watching an old western how fast he whipped out his pistola,” Rose said helpfully.
“It wasn’t bad. People already think I’m weird and suddenly I have a dead British pop star talking to me in the diner, the Sheriff and I are declaring our love to each other and Cindy’s mom has her wits back. I mean, how much weirder can it get?”
“A lot,” Rasmussen said simply.
Sadly, this was true.
“So, I assume since you were calling me, you had some sort of idea, some sort of plan?”
“I do. He knows I was bringing along one, maybe one more depending.”
“And you assumed I would want to join you in this?” He asked.
“With your mind magic and my sight, we have a good chance of getting in and out undetected. With the way the council is infiltrated, I don’t know who else to trust.”
“Infiltrated?” He asked.
That was when I laid out everything I’d seen and heard, right down to them describing what had happened in the inner chamber during Vivian’s sentencing when the rest of us had to go sit in the hallway. He’d gone quiet, then pensive, then pale and shaking.
“Do you mind if I…?” he asked, his hands near my temples.
“Go ahead,” I told him and let him make contact.
I stared at him, not trying to make direct eye contact, but when I saw his iris’s wobble, I knew he was reading my memories. I concentrated on being an open book. Of everyone I had dealt with, I trusted him. He’s the one who told me the truth about my father. Instead of it feeling like a mind rape, I equated what I was allowing him to do was more akin to a quick skim through of my memories to save and shortcut some time.
He took longer than normal and when he broke contact nearly thirty seconds had passed. I’d felt him communicate mind to mind with five dozen mages at once in less than a second, so I had to wonder how deep he had gone, to look for deception, a lie or—
“I’ve gone deeper than your surface memories to see if I was wrong. I’ve replayed everything Vassago has ever spoken to you about, and I’ve replayed Khrystiana’s conversation over dozens and dozens of times. I… I knew we had a leak, but I had no idea…”
“You can read minds, not hearts,” I told him.
“If we are truly infiltrated… If even part of this is true…”
“Then you need to clean house when this is all over with.”
“What happens to Vassago, when and if his daughter is rescued?” he asked me suddenly.
“My first inclination is to tie him up and let drops of boiling hot acid drip on his skin in random places. He’d heal fast, but it’d be the constant drip and the constant pain, the constant drain on his pow
ers. Just enough to drive him crazy but not enough to kill him. Do that for another eighty-eight years and see if it makes me growing up without a father worth it.”
“That’s horrible,” Rasmussen said after a moment.
“That’s him just talking tough,” Rose said. “Bossman here wants to stash him somewhere until the council has its house cleaned then make him stand trial for his crimes.”
“Hey, I was going for the tough guy act, so he wouldn’t chicken out from going with me,” I told her, pointing my finger.
“Ahhhh, dark humor. I wasn’t reading your mind. After all you’ve been through, that actually wouldn’t be that far-fetched for you. Horrible, but not that much of a stretch.”
“Hey, I’m not a monster,” I told him.
“No,” he said softly, “you just kill them.”
20
I wasn’t comfortable with this, and I hated every moment I waited with Rasmussen and Rose outside my wards on the edge of the property, right where I told Vassago to meet me. I was going without JJ and the pack, I was leaving Vivian behind and Cindy… I wished she could come, but this was time for me to go this one alone. Still, I was thankful that she hadn’t argued about being included in this. Our time together after Vassago had left had made me happy. I hadn’t been happy in a long time, and it was good to see that my lurid thoughts I’d projected at Rasmussen the one time he tried to read me unasked were actually true. If I died today, I could meet my maker and tell him I had found love. As sappy as that bullshit was, it was true.
Rose, of course, claimed she’d gotten too drunk on honey, but I knew she had left and I had a pretty good idea who she’d gone to see. Cindy’s mom could see the little Fae. Sometimes that happened, when a completely mundane human could see through the veils of magic and know things for what they truly are. Usually, it was the seventh son of a seventh son and all of that mysterious hoodoo, but sometimes it was just a random happenstance. I decided I’d wanted to do one more thing before I left.
“Hello?” Cindy said, answering her cell phone.
“It’s almost go time,” I told her.
“Yeah. You be careful,” she told me.
“Oh, I will. Once we save the kid, we’re going to send every battle mage from four continents after Khrystiana while her pets are down.”
“Good, then you make sure you get back here.”
“I will, otherwise…”
“No otherwise. You get back here when you’re done,” she said, her voice confident, far more so than I felt.
“On the off chance—”
“Rose?” Cindy said so loud I had to hold the phone away from my ear some.
“Yes, boss lady?” Rose chirruped.
“Don’t let him do anything too heroic.”
“Hellz to the no. He’s got to get me safe passage to Ireland someday,” Rose said seriously into the handset.
It was remarkable, Fae didn’t fry out electronics the way human mages did, but they rarely understood it. Rose loved my phone because of the pretty colors on the touchscreen, but she was all serious about it now.
“Good, I’ll make sure there’s some honey rolls or warm homemade baklava filled with raspberries when you get him back.”
“I… that’s…”
I put the phone up to my ear. “I think you just gave her an orgasm,” I said, ignoring the suddenly angry look I was getting. “I promise I’ll do my best not to be too heroic. I’m kind of doing a favor for a former mortal enemy.”
“Yeah, don’t let him out of your sight; he was telling us the truth, but it was what he wasn’t telling us that was bugging me.”
“Got a feeling?” I asked her.
“Gut feeling,” she admitted.
“Well, if it is like he said it was, then hopefully it’ll be pretty straightforward,” I told her. “Listen, I gotta go.”
“Thomas, I uh….”
“Yeah, me too,” I said.
“Bye,” we chorused and hung up.
“That was LAME-O,” Rose said. “You should tell her for real.”
“Tell her what for real?” Rasmussen said.
“That he kinda digs her?” Rose asked.
“Ahh,” Rasmussen said watching the figure I’d seen walking up the gravel driveway.
I’d seen him first, my ears picking out the crunching gravel a minute before he came into view. For once, the wind coming down the mountain whipped through my clothing, and although I was dressed for war, I was chilled to the bone with fear.
“Do you think you have enough?” Rasmussen asked me.
“If I need my guns,” I said patting the twin 1911s on my side, “then we need to escape fast. It’s not like she doesn’t know where I like to hang my hat, not after Vassago’s first attack here.”
“Why is it, do you think, that she hasn’t attacked you here?” Rasmussen asked.
“You know why,” Rose said coyly, “He’s got this side of the mountain ready to blow. I don’t think even a greater demon can survive having a mountain dropped on them.”
“True,” Rasmussen said rubbing a spot on his head.
“Are we ready?” Vassago called as he got nearer.
I was hesitant to step off my property yet. If you would have told me a week ago I was going to be doing this I would have called you every name in the book and the worst sort of liar, but now… I didn’t know. I was doing this.
Wasn’t I?
“We are,” I said walking forward, and after a moment, Rasmussen followed.
“You,” Vassago said stopping short and looking at my companion.
“I know you ain’t talking to me skinny boy,” Rose said.
“Me,” Rasmussen said softly.
Vassago turned to me.
“I told you,” I said to him, “I needed one more. With the council infiltrated, I needed somebody to help us be sneaky. You can use your life sight and healing skills to keep us safe or put any guards to sleep. Rasmussen here can do his ‘Shadow Act’ and cloud the minds and memories of anybody we run across, and I can do something I’ve been practicing while you two watch over me so we can proceed safely.”
“What’s that?” Vassago asked.
“Try to find us a path through to get to your daughter. You’ve been vague about where we’re going. Now’s the time not to play coy any longer.”
Vassago sighed. “It’s in Brussels, in the countryside. There’s no roads there, only gating.”
“Where at in Brussels?” I asked him, testing to see how committed he was.
“I don’t actually know,” he admitted, “I don’t stroll around the countryside there. I just go when summoned,” he said, pulling up his sleeve and shaking his wrist, pointing to his charm bracelet. “Wright’s not the only one who’s got shortcuts.”
Speaking of which, I’d spent my off time refilling every gate charm I had, had refilled my healing charm and spent every waking moment not filled with planning, practicing with my sight and pushing the boundaries of how far ahead I could look. I’d started off with walking up the hill. Then what happened after that. Choices and free will. That was what changed things. The future was absolute when ‘I’ decided to just walk up the hill in my sight, but as soon as Rose interrupted or spoke or asked me a question, the futures branched. It was overwhelming and confusing at first.
If I hadn’t been disciplined as a kid and had learned how to selectively query my gift, I might have become lost. I almost had once when I’d run across an elk crossing through the back of the old mine while I was on the sight walk, but my concentration and decades of practice had saved me. That should have been enough to put me off, but I wasn’t going to give up now. I’d seen my enemy, and I’d stood my ground. I’d found that my enemy was just as devious and less honorable than I, and that who I’d thought was my nemesis was more or less a lame pawn in the grand scheme of things.
Just like me.
“Do you trust him?” Vassago said to me suddenly.
“Rasmussen? He knows that the co
uncil’s been infiltrated. We’d talked as much before you, and I had spoken. That was the only way Mass and Effect got to my mother when I was a boy.”
Vassago looked down at his polished black leather boots. In fact, he was dressed up like the guy from Grandma’s Boy today. All shiny black leather clothing with matching satchel… Gods, why couldn’t I remember the character’s name? He talked like a robot and wanted metal legs — JB!
“I’m sure he does,” Vassago said and turned. “Each place a hand on me. Your Fae should hold onto you tightly,” Vassago said.
Rose landed and latched onto my collar and put a hand on my neck, and as an extra precaution I put my hand on his shoulder. After a moment, Rasmussen did the same.
“This isn’t how gate magic works,” I told him.
“No, but touching me will get you through without setting off the wards when we walk out onto the other side,” he said, one hand touching his other near the wrist.
A gate opened, shimmering blues and purples. I kept contact with him as he stepped forward and then—
“You wanted Irish faeries,” I told Rose.
“This is Brussels,” Rose hissed in my ear.
We’d come out in what looked like a vast field that was bordered by stacked stone walls. It was unlike anything I’d seen in a long, long time. It was almost out of a poem it was so pretty. Black and white sheep grazed, breaking up the lush green rolling landscape. The land here looked hilly, but for all I knew, we were in the mountains. I’ve never been to this part of the world exactly, because I’d remember a huge freaking castle like the one that stood on the far hill, probably half a mile or better away.
“Got that part done,” Vassago said, closing the gate behind us.
“Short stuff, eyes in the sky, don’t let anybody see you,” I told her, “We’ll wait here till you’ve poofed most of the way there and back.”
“Aye, aye captain!” Rose said and threw a mock salute.
“Hermosa always says that; I’m not sure I understand the reference,” Rasmussen said.
“Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” I asked him.
Second Sight: The Rune Sight Chronicles Page 19
