Forged in Fire

by J. A. Pitts

  “If he just wanted massive carnage, he could blow up a building or something.” I sat back and ran my hands through my hair. “There’s something else he’s after, I’m sure of it. We’re missing something crucial.”

  We let the subject drop, each lost in our own thoughts.

  Justin had been in league with the Dragon Liberation Front. And they were in league with the psycho dragon cult that wanted to rule openly.

  How did I play in all that? Could he be after Gram? She was built to kill dragons. Maybe he needed her to tip the balance of power somehow—take out one or more of the ruling dragons, start a civil war. It was a thought.

  Damn scary thought.

  Twenty

  We were home doing laundry on Saturday a week later. I was whining about how much I hated doing laundry, which explains why most of my clothes were jeans and T-shirts. I rarely took them out of the laundry basket once I’d washed them. Katie decided I needed to be retrained, so we played strip laundry. It was pretty fun. We were folding clothes, and if we both took out a similar piece of clothing, the first one to get that piece folded and in the basket got to make the other remove something.

  I was down to one sock, panties, and a T-shirt. Katie was wearing nothing but a stocking cap and thigh-high boots. I’d just about given the laundry up in favor of other activities when my cell phone rang. Katie made me answer it and ran around the other side of the bed, away from my reach.

  I answered the phone. The number was out of area, which likely meant it was a sales call.

  “Smith,” a gravelly voice said on the other end. “You should turn on the news.”

  “Who is this?” I asked.

  Katie was busy on the other side of the bed doing something rather intriguing with a bottle of baby oil.

  “There’s a report coming on right now that involves a girl getting murdered that may interest you.”

  I walked out of the bedroom and into the living room. Katie called to me, but followed. I sat on the couch, flipped the remote, and the news came on.

  They were just finishing up a segment on traffic, when Katie joined me, confused and mouthing something at me I couldn’t understand. I couldn’t read lips. Why did she think I could figure out what she was asking me?

  “I’m watching,” I said into the phone.

  “Hang on,” the voice said. It was familiar, like I’d heard it before. I just couldn’t place it. Not Rolph, or any of the other dwarves I’d met in Vancouver. But definitely something that made me think of Canada.

  The news spoke of a kid in her early twenties who’d been murdered. I recognized her as one of the groupies that was doing Ari the night he got kidnapped. It was the girl who’d helped me by whacking one of the bad guys with her big-ass purse. On the television they listed her as an exotic dancer. As the newscaster spoke, they flashed up the pictures of three other young women.

  Katie sat by me, and the baby oil slipped from her slick fingers and hit the floor with a thunk. She was pointing at the screen. “We met her,” she said. “She was at the concert. The one who thought she was going to marry Ari, remember?”

  I did remember. Big girl who wanted to meet the singer with all her heart. We’d promised to pass her message on to Ari. I felt pretty sick about it all of a sudden.

  “Someone is gunning for you, sweet cheeks,” the voice growled. “You want to be watching that pretty backside of yours.”

  Before I could tell the guy to get bent, the line went dead. I put the phone on the coffee table and turned up the volume on the television. They linked the new girl with the others I’d heard about lately and showed a couple I hadn’t heard about. All in all, six girls had been murdered the same way. Brutal, nasty murders like the way the horse had been killed.

  By the end of the news report, we recognized several of the women in the string of killings from Vancouver to Everett, Lynnwood down to Redmond. Someone in the police leaked to the press that they believed the murders to be the work of a serial killer. All the deaths were caused by similar weapons, and all the women had been ritually murdered.

  It had to be Justin, had to be that sick fuck doing his blood magic to find me. Killing all those girls who’d run into me at some point in their lives.

  I needed to call Rolph. See what he knew about what was going on in Vancouver. Then I needed to start looking for Justin on my own. I didn’t have magic to fight him with, but I had friends and contacts. And I knew Nidhogg. She may know something. And there were the dwarves in Vancouver. Some of those who’d worked with him had to be alive. They couldn’t have all been killed when we rescued Ari.

  Definitely needed to engage Rolph. Call Skella and maybe see if her gran knew anything that would help here.

  Someone had to stop this bastard.

  Katie picked up the bottle of baby oil and trundled back to the bedroom, only to return wrapped in a bathrobe. She’d looked so freaking hot with the oil all over her breasts, but even that was tainted with all this.

  That was the final straw.

  Rolph answered on the second ring.

  “Rolph, dude,” I said into the phone. “What the hell’s going on up there?”

  “Smith?” he asked.

  “Yeah, it’s Sarah. What do you know about the girls that have been killed up there? You have any idea who’s behind it?”

  I heard him yawn. It was early; the sun hadn’t gone down yet. Crap, I’d probably woken him.

  “I’ve heard something,” he said. “But nothing more than you probably already know.”

  “Someone just called me, warned me to watch my ass. I thought I recognized the voice somehow. Made me think of Canada. Any of your cousins up there in the know?”

  He didn’t respond right away. “Just because I am a dwarf,” he said, his voice a little cold, “does not mean I am the spokesmodel for my race.”

  Definitely cranky. “Sorry if I woke you. Everything okay in your world?”

  I heard him take a drink of something. “We are fine, thanks for asking. Juanita is with child.”

  Holy crap. “Um, seriously? Is that safe and everything?”

  He laughed, a harsh croaking sound that told me he was not well. “And I have the flu,” he finished. “She is staying with her sister in Bellingham while I am sick. Doesn’t want to risk anything this early in the pregnancy.”

  “Yeah, sure. Makes sense.” I looked at Katie and mouthed “Pregnant.” She looked at me, puzzled, so I mimed having a very large, round belly and pointed to the phone. A look of understanding dawned on her face.

  “Anyway,” he continued. “I can inquire about the girls you mentioned.”

  “I think I know who is doing this,” I said. “That necromancer that was working with Jean-Paul. He’s the one that mucked up the ley line down here.”

  “Where you battled the spirits?” he asked. “And wrecked an ill-conceived scheme by my brethren here in Vancouver?”

  “Yep, the same.”

  He went quiet again for a bit.

  “I will call the King of Vancouver,” he said, a note of resignation in his voice. “This necromancer cannot go unchecked. The king will be disheartened to hear how his minions are being slaughtered.”

  “Cool,” I said. “I’d like to get ahead of this freak. I’m sick that these girls all have me in common.”

  “Hmmm…” he mused. “Perhaps I will call Juanita first. Make sure she takes precautions. Knowing you has become both a blessing and a liability, Smith.”

  “Geez, thanks.”

  “We are not helpless,” he said. “Caution is a way of life for those of us who follow the blade.”

  Ah, the blade. Gram, harbinger of dragon doom and the tickle that rides in the back of my brain morning, noon, and night.

  “How is the blade?” he asked, quietly.

  “She’s fine, Rolph. Sleeping, actually. Waiting for the next battle.”

  He laughed. “Sleeping? Like a child?”

  I shrugged, even though he couldn’t see. “
I feel her like she’s alive,” I said. “Like she’s this entity that has a will of her own.”

  “Formidable magic, indeed,” he said. “Your skill as a smith may exceed even my first impression.”

  “Thanks.” What else could I say? I’d fixed a magic sword that was originally forged by the famous smith Völundr. That’s what exposed me to this strange new world. Who knows what magic it held at that making? But rumors had it that Odin himself broke the sword at least once. Maybe she was too dangerous if given her head too much. Like a spirited horse who did what she wanted, and damn the consequences.

  “Get with your king, Rolph,” I said. “I’ll start some inquiries down here. Let’s get back in touch in a few days, exchange what we’ve found.”

  “Seems reasonable,” he said. “It is an honor to serve the blade at your side.”

  I rolled by eyes. “Take care of yourself, Rolph, and tell Juanita we said congratulations.”

  “My thanks, Smith. Be careful.”

  “Thanks.”

  I hung up and looked at Katie. “Human girl, dwarf father. Is that gonna work?”

  She gave me a funny look. “Why wouldn’t it?”

  “How am I supposed to know? Just seems odd.”

  “More importantly, did he know anything?”

  “No, but he’ll get back to me.”

  I hated the not knowing. Hated even more that Juanita was a target, just like Katie, Julie, heck, even Melanie and her EMT girlfriend, Dena. Only women. That was important. Even the horse had been a mare. I’d have to mention that to Gunther.

  We finished the laundry with a few more clothes on than I’d anticipated, but the tone had shifted. There was fear in the air and it sucked.

  I took Gram out from under the bed while Katie took a shower. She’d used a lot of baby oil, apparently. Next time, damn it.

  I opened the case and took Gram out by the handle. The minute I touched her, the light shifted and I saw the room more clearly than usual. What do you think? I asked in my head. I closed my eyes and held Gram out in front of me. “Can you find the bastard?” I asked out loud. There was a twinge, a wobble, but nothing more than that. Gram was made to kill dragons. I’m not sure she understood necromancer. No clues there. I put her back in her case and slid it back under the bed before Katie got out of the shower. One thing, though. The niggling worry and fear had vanished.

  Twenty-one

  I didn’t have any smithing work on the agenda for the day, so after Katie went off to school, I decided to head over to Nidhogg’s and get the measurements I needed for the gate. It was forming pretty well in my mind; I just needed some parameters to make it all come together.

  I put on the new leather pants Katie’d bought me. She also bought me those assless chaps but decided I had to try them on when our cell phones were in the freezer, the television remote hidden in the microwave, and the front door intercom disconnected.

  Sometimes a girl wanted some playtime that did not get interrupted by crazy phone calls warning of serial killers.

  I’d seen the chaps. They were pretty smoking. I’m sure they would make my ass look big, but whatever turned her on.

  Once I was in my leathers, I grabbed a bottle of water and an energy bar and added them to my messenger bag.

  The ride over the water to Seattle was cold but I was getting used to it. It only rained part of the way, but with the right gloves I did just fine.

  Zi Xiu met me at the door when I arrived. “The mistress is indisposed,” she informed me. I guess that meant she was in the can.

  “Just need to take some measurements for the gate.”

  She nodded and ushered me in. As we crossed the foyer, I spotted Jai Li, the young girl who haunted Qindra’s room.

  “The mistress has banned her from Qindra’s room,” Zi Xiu assured me. “The child has grown willful. I fear for her.”

  “Any idea what’s causing her to disobey?”

  Zi Xiu looked at me for a moment, then ushered me over to the hall to Qindra’s quarters. “It is not for me to speak out against the mistress, but as you are a surrogate for Qindra, it seems fair for you to know the truth of things.”

  “Jai Li pines for Qindra, as do many of the household,” she whispered. “But the mistress has been having nightmares of late. She calls out to Qindra as if to a daughter, cries ofttimes.” She watched me, her eyes wide with shock at her own words. “I think we are all in danger. If she rages as she did in the spring, who will calm her? Who will bring her back to her true self?”

  I shuddered to think of a raging dragon among the small children here. Jai Li watched us from her hiding place behind one of the floor-to-ceiling wall hangings. “Did she see her twin killed?”

  Zi Xiu shook her head. “No, she had been in the kitchen getting tea. She only heard the mistress rage. We all cowered where we stood when that roar shook the house.”

  I remembered Jean-Paul’s roar as we battled. It was horrifying. No wonder Jai Li had attached herself to Qindra. Safest port in a storm. And with her twin gone, she had no one else.

  The measurements went quickly. I agreed to have tea with Zi Xiu. The woman was lonely in her position. The other servants feared her for her power. Qindra had shown her kindness, however. By the time we were sipping our tea, Jai Li had crept into the kitchen and sat with her back to one of the industrial ovens, watching us with hungry eyes.

  “Hello,” I said to the young girl as we finished tea. I paused in front of her, kneeling down to be on her level. “I love your needlepoint.” I smiled at her. “You are a beautiful artist.”

  The girl looked from me to Zi Xiu over my shoulder. Apparently she saw approval. For one moment she sat frozen as a mouse hunted by a great hawk. The next, she’d flung herself against me, wrapping her arms around my neck. I was too shocked to respond. Before I could move, she was gone, a wisp of yellow and red silk as the kitchen door swung back and forth.

  I stood and glanced at Zi Xiu, who shook her head in disbelief. “She has not allowed anyone to touch her except Qindra,” she said, awed. “You have been paid a great honor.”

  An honor I’m not sure I deserved.

  I thanked my host and left the house. It wasn’t until I was on the bike did I find out I had a missed call. The house was cavernous; it was no wonder I hadn’t gotten the call.

  I didn’t recognize the number and there was no message. Katie hated it when I did it, but I called it back. I couldn’t stand not knowing. It rang three times before a bright young woman answered, “Family Martial Arts.”

  I hung up, panicked. That was my old Tae Kwon Do school. Why would they be calling me? And how’d they get my number?

  The ride back across the water was cold and miserable, but not because of the weather. Someone from my old life had tried to contact me, and I’d freaked. Hadn’t I been calling home, refusing to leave a message on the machine?

  If I thought a missed call was maddening, what was I putting Ma through?

  Twenty-two

  “It’s just a game,” Efrain said. “Role playing. We only do what you want to do, and we have a safe word. Something you can say that stops everything, understand?”

  Trisha watched him, her mind racing. This was nuts, crazy. Part of her wanted to leave, take her things and go, but another part of her was intrigued.

  “I’m afraid,” she said, quietly, pulling her robe close around her. They were both in silk pajamas. He’d given them to her as a gift. They were green, while his own were deep red. They had matching robes, and she felt like it was Christmas. She knew what she wanted to unwrap. If she just had the courage.

  He studied her a moment, crossing his hands on his lap. “Sex is like magic,” he said, smiling. “It only works if done properly. If anything is off even a little, it just doesn’t work.”

  She shrugged. “I’m pretty sure it’ll work for you. Guys have it easy.”

  Efrain chuckled. “It’s not all about release, though that in itself has its own power. I’m talking abo
ut real magic, Trisha. The power to transcend who you are for a moment, to meld the two into one.”

  She sighed. “I’d settle for an orgasm.” She blushed. He did nothing to make her uncomfortable. On the contrary, he’d been patient with her, letting her ask all the questions, letting her direct their first steps toward intimacy.

  “I’m sure we can arrange many of those,” he said. His tone was even, but his face was bright with excitement. “It would be an honor to bring you to such pleasure.”

  Honor? He was like some dream date. “I want to,” she said, wringing her hands. “I really, really want to. It’s just…” She paused, taking a deep breath. “I don’t want you to think I’m some kind of freak.” There, she’d said it.

  He laughed, not a mocking laugh, but a tension release. “How in the world would you believe I could think less of you? You are a beautiful woman who knows what she wants. That kind of strength is intoxicating, arousing.”

  She looked at him, saw the way his face was flushed, saw how taut his body was. “You promise it will be magical?”

  He sat back, grinning. “If you will indulge me a moment.” He pulled a blindfold from the pocket of his robe. “Let’s try something simple. I’ll blindfold you, and then we can just kiss a bit. See how your other senses react.”

  She felt a hunger rising in her. “And if I like that?” she asked.

  “It is up to you, my flower. The world is yours to take. I am but a willing partner on your journey.”

  “Okay,” she said, sitting up and holding out her hand. “Give me the blindfold.” She slipped it over her head. It smelled of lilacs. For a moment she practically vibrated, expecting his touch, but nothing happened for several long heartbeats. Then his lips brushed hers, and she could smell him, the musky scent of him. She could taste the mint of his toothpaste.

  When they paused to catch their breath, he whispered to her. “I could show you real magic, Trisha.” His hand stroked her arm, and she leaned into him, letting her lips find his again.