Rite of Passage: An Alastair Stone Urban Fantasy Novel (Alastair Stone Chronicles Book 26)

by R. L. King

  And for Neil, until he’d wasted away of some disease. The guilt about that had to be eating at her too.

  Jason texted him on Friday evening: Want to go get a beer?

  That was unexpected—usually his friend spent his weekends with Amber. Sure. Name the place.

  Still at the office. Rocky’s in an hour?

  The small bar was up the street from A Passage To India, and they’d spent many an evening there over the years. See you there.

  Jason was already there when Stone arrived, seated at a rear table. The place wasn’t crowded yet, but it was starting to fill up. He ordered a Guinness and headed back.

  “Hey, Al. How’s it going? I’ve got an order of boneless wings coming.”

  “Brilliant.” He looked around. “Where’s Amber? I’d have thought you two would be together.”

  “She went to Tahoe to visit her brothers for the weekend. I have a bunch of work tomorrow, so I couldn’t go along.”

  “Sorry to hear that.”

  He shrugged. “Eh, it happens. We’re both busy, so it’s not unexpected.”

  “Fair enough. Bored tonight, then?”

  “Nah. Just figured we don’t get together that often these days, so as long as I have the time…”

  “Yes, I’d imagine once the new little one comes, your free time will be a bit curtailed.”

  Jason glanced up. “Yeah, probably. Between that and work and fixing up the house, we’ll both be pretty busy. Anyway, what have you been up to lately? Did you ever find Daphne?”

  “Not yet. I’m not actively looking for her, since she doesn’t want me to. She did call me a few days ago, though. She’s moved again—last I heard, she was in a motel. The local cuisine wasn’t agreeing with Jeremy, and she’s hoping that will pass as he gets used to being here.”

  “Local—” His eyes widened. “Shit, I never thought about that, but I guess it makes sense. Even though he’s human, he grew up on another dimension.” The plate of wings arrived, and he paused to take a bite out of one, waving for Stone to join him.

  Stone took one look at the nuclear-orange sauce covering them and shook his head. “I just wish she’d let me help her. I know she’s worried about someone catching her, but I’m not going to turn her in.”

  “I’m sure she knows that. But you know how it is, Al—once you let the cat out of the bag, there’s no putting it back in. Remember how nervous you were about telling anybody about the Evil?”

  “I suppose you’re right.” He sipped his Guinness and sighed. “I just feel at a bit of a loss right now. I want to do something, and there’s nothing to do. It’s…frustrating.”

  “Join the club, man.”

  Stone glanced up at the odd tone in his friend’s voice. “What’s that mean?”

  Jason picked up another wing, studied it, then popped it in his mouth.

  “Jason?”

  He gave a slightly manic smile. “It’s just…starting to sink in on me that in less than a year, I’m gonna be a dad.”

  “Yes…that is the way it works,” Stone said dryly. He narrowed his eyes. “Is that a problem?”

  “No!” The manic smile grew wider. “No, of course not. I’m seriously so happy about it I can’t even describe it. I’ve always wanted kids. I guess I just never thought I’d have any.”

  “Why not?”

  He shrugged. “You know what I used to be like. I was a slacker. I couldn’t even manage my own life, let alone anybody else’s. I even nearly fucked up V’s life because she creeped me out so much I kept making excuses for not visiting her.”

  “That was a long time ago. A lot of things have changed since then. You aren’t the same man you were when I first met you.”

  “No, I know I’m not. My life’s so good these days I sometimes wonder if I didn’t accidentally end up with somebody else’s. I think that might be part of what’s bothering me.”

  “What, that you think you’ve nicked somebody else’s life?”

  Jason waved it off. “No, no. Just that…things have been going so well that I’m always thinking something’s waiting around the corner for me, you know? Like I’m gonna get blindsided—or worse yet, Amber will—when we least expect it. Does that make sense?”

  “It does. I think that’s a fairly common fear.”

  “Do you get it?”

  “Well…things generally do blindside me fairly often, so I’ve sort of got used to it, haven’t I?” Stone spoke lightly, trying to take the heavy edge off the conversation.

  “Yeah, maybe…and it never bothered me before, when it was just me. I mean, I still have this background feeling like I need to look after V because I’m her older brother, but…you know how well that goes over.”

  “I do. Verity isn’t terribly fond of anyone trying to look after her. Nor does she need it these days.”

  “Yeah. And Amber really doesn’t either. We look out for each other, which is the way it should be. But…”

  Stone waited silently, sipping. He glanced at the wings again. He was hungry, he decided, but not that hungry.

  Jason sighed loudly. “Hell, Al, I dunno. I mean—we’re gonna have a baby. A little helpless person who’s one hundred percent dependent on us for everything. What if I screw that up?”

  “You aren’t going to screw it up, mate. Believe me, I can’t think of anyone I know who’d make a better father.”

  “I hope so.” His hand tightened around his glass, and his expression hardened. “I mean…the kid’s barely a speck right now, and already I’m all set to fight my way through a whole pack of wolves to keep it safe. It’s…I can’t even explain it, how protective I’m already feeling about this kid.”

  “I’m not at all surprised. With you and Amber as parents, I don’t envy anyone who looks sideways at your child.”

  Jason snorted. “Yeah, that mama bear stuff is real. Plus her brothers, when she tells them about it.”

  “And me.”

  He glanced up, startled. “You?”

  “Yes, well, why not? I said I wouldn’t change nappies. I didn’t say I wouldn’t fight extradimensional horrors to keep the little sprog safe.”

  “Al…” Jason shook his head in wonder. “You are something. I’m not sure what, exactly, but I’m damn sure glad to have you in my corner. But…”

  “But what?”

  “Well…I guess I can’t help worrying that there will be extradimensional horrors.” He stared into his glass. “He…or she…is gonna be so small…I mean, all sorts of things happen to regular babies. And this isn’t gonna be a regular baby.”

  “Jason…” Stone smiled. “Come on. I get it. You’re a nervous dad, just like every other nervous dad who’s ever lived. You’ll sort this out. Your baby will be fine, and so will you.”

  “Yeah. I know. And you’re right—I guess everybody goes through this at some point. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. I didn’t think it would be right to dump this on Amber. She’s probably got her own worries.”

  “Almost certainly.”

  “But at least she’s got the kid inside her, where she knows she can keep it safe.” He looked up again. “I guess you didn’t go through this with Ian, since you didn’t meet him ’til he was all grown up.”

  “You’d be surprised.”

  “Yeah?”

  Stone shrugged. “At least your child isn’t hopping all over the world trying to see how many dangerous pursuits it can find. I got a text yesterday from him—he and Gabriel are BASE jumping off a mountain in Norway. Before that, he said he’s thinking of taking up motorcycle racing.”

  “It’s a little different when you’re a mage, though. I mean—if his chute fails, he can levitate down.”

  “You realize that doesn’t make much difference, right? Irrational fears are irrational fears.”

  “Yeah, I guess you have a point there.” Jason had worked his way through almost all the wings without appearing to notice. “You sure you don’t want one before I polish them off?”

&n
bsp; “No, thank you. Be my guest.”

  “Thanks. Got busy and forgot to eat lunch today.” He popped another one in his mouth, chewed, swallowed, and looked at Stone. “Thanks, Al. I didn’t exactly know what I was looking for, talking to you about this. But I think I got it.”

  “Glad to be of assistance. It will be fine, Jason. Parents have got through all of this since the dawn of time. And I completely believe you two will keep that child so safe it will probably complain you’re smothering it before it’s old enough to go to school.”

  He chuckled. “I didn’t know anything about parenthood before I found out about Ian, and there’s still a lot more I don’t know than I do. But I can tell you this with certainty: you’ll be bloody amazed at what you’re willing to do to guard your child against harm. The trick is to identify what actually is harm, and what’s just you being parentally irrational.”

  Stone stopped at A Passage to India after he left Jason, to pick up some takeaway. He thought he might chat with Marta, since he hadn’t seen her for a long time, but she wasn’t there. I suppose it’s only fair, given the number of times I’ve avoided her when I’ve been in a hurry.

  Nikhil, the restaurant’s longtime chef, brought out his order when it was ready. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “Been busy, I suppose. Marta’s not here?”

  He gave a sly smile. “She’s on a date.”

  “Is that right?” Stone grinned. “That’s brilliant.” As far as he knew, she hadn’t seen anyone for years, ever since her partner, David Halloran, had been killed by the Evil. “About bloody time.”

  “That’s what we’ve been saying.”

  “Well, tell her I said hello when she shows up, will you?”

  “I hope you’ll come back. I think she misses seeing you.”

  He hadn’t driven to Sunnyvale, since there was a ley line near the public portal and it was easier to travel that way. When he returned home, popping into his living room, he found Raider seated atop a familiar cream-colored envelope with a wax seal on it. It appeared it had been leaning against a stack of books on the coffee table, before the cat got hold of it. He picked it up, noting several nibble marks at its edge.

  “Shoo,” he told Raider, only mildly irritably. Cats would be cats, and he was more interested in how Kolinsky had managed to deliver one of his missives inside his home.

  The note had only a single line of text: Please come to my shop at your earliest convenience.

  “Hmm…” he muttered. “Not even a signature this time.” And of course Kolinsky hadn’t included a timestamp on the message, so it could have been delivered any time after he’d left for Sunnyvale. Once again, he thought about how much easier life would be if he could convince the dragon to get a bloody phone—but then again, he wasn’t sure he wanted Kolinsky contacting him whenever he felt like it. It was a trade-off, he supposed.

  He didn’t bother driving to the shop, since a ley line ran directly through it. Instead, he appeared with his invisibility spell up in the parking lot across the street.

  This time on a Friday night, the area around the shop was busy, with people loitering outside the nearby liquor store and the check-cashing place, and several more congregated near the abandoned building two doors down. Stone swapped his invisibility spell for disregarding long enough to get across the street, then ducked into Kolinsky’s doorway and slipped behind the wards before anyone spotted him. It was a close thing—as he glanced over his shoulder, two men ambled by, both holding tall cans of beer. They didn’t look his way has he disappeared through the barrier.

  “Okay, Stefan,” he called as he reached the bottom of the stairs. “I’m here. What’s so urgent?”

  The dragon wasn’t in his usual place at the roll-top desk, but he appeared in the doorway at the far side of the room. “Good evening, Alastair. Thank you for responding to my request.”

  “Sorry it took me a while—I was out. I’m not even going to ask how you managed to get it into my house, but you might want to be more careful where you leave your messages next time—Raider could have knocked it under the sofa.”

  “We reached an understanding.”

  Stone flashed him a sharp look, trying to decide if he was joking or serious. He wasn’t sure how the thought that Kolinsky could converse with Raider made him feel. Some things were best left unexplored, he decided. “Yes, well, next time you talk to him, tell him to stop pulling my books off the shelves. Anyway, what can I do for you?”

  “I have detected an unusual rift, and I wish you to investigate it if you have time.”

  “Another one?” Raider forgotten, Stone tensed. “Not another one like West Virginia, was it?” He had no idea what to think if that were the case. Had Daphne managed to make another portal?

  “No. This one is closer to the more familiar parameters, but it is acting…oddly.”

  “Oddly how?”

  “The energy is strange, and it has appeared near a ley line, but not directly on it.”

  Stone narrowed his eyes, thinking of the one in Oakland. “You think we’ve got another situation where it’s pulling a ley line off course?”

  “Possibly.”

  “Where is it?”

  “Western Louisiana.”

  “And you want me to go now?”

  Kolinsky produced a leather-bound atlas from one of the bottom drawers of his desk and opened it to a page showing Louisiana. At first Stone saw nothing, but then a faint, flickering glow appeared in the west-central part of the state, not far from the Texas border. Kolinsky gestured again, revealing a crisscrossing of ley lines, one of which ran close to the glowing point. “It should not be difficult for you to find the rift.”

  “I should hope not—I don’t fancy wandering about in the dark out in the middle of nowhere. I’ve never even been to Louisiana. Haven’t they got alligators or something?”

  Kolinsky gave him a look. “Remind me again: you have battled how many extradimensional and magical threats in your career?”

  Stone glared back.

  “In any case, I can pinpoint the location more precisely this time, so you should not have to travel far.”

  “And this can’t wait until tomorrow morning? What difference does it make? I assume you don’t want me to close it.”

  “I do not know. That is why I wish you to investigate.”

  “Really?” Stone stopped his pacing, startled. “You’re actually saying you think this one should be closed?”

  “Ideally, no. But as I said, it is acting erratically, which might mean it is not a standard rift. If it is not, then the risk might be stronger to leave it in place than to close it. I will leave that to your discretion.”

  “What, you don’t want to pop over and have a look if I find something interesting?”

  “Best if I do not.”

  “Because you don’t want the other dragons finding out you’re directly involved.”

  “Just so.”

  Stone sighed and resumed pacing. “Fine—I’ll check it out for you. Can’t say I’m not intrigued. Give me the location. I’ll need to go home and collect a few things first, but I’ll give you a report in the morning. Is that acceptable?”

  “Of course.”

  “Brilliant. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turned to leave.

  “Alastair?”

  “Yes?”

  “Have a care. This one troubles me more than the others.”

  A little chill ran up Stone’s back. If Stefan was admitting to being freaked out, he’d better make sure he was prepared.

  15

  The instant Stone appeared at the spot he’d chosen along the Louisiana ley line, he knew something was wrong.

  More precisely, he knew before he appeared. Normally, the trip was almost instantaneous following the few minutes of initial preparation, but this time it almost felt as if his destination was resisting him. That wasn’t the best way to describe it, but it was the closest he could come as the ley-line currents buffeted him aro
und, wreathing him in a disorienting miasma of discordant colors and thoughts. It only lasted a second or two, but when he popped back to reality, he found himself four feet off the ground and nearly upside-down. He barely got his hands out to break his fall before he slammed head-first into the dirt.

  This isn’t good…

  He scrambled to his feet, turning in place as he pulled up a shield around him. Was something preparing to attack him? Was this another instance of the “high” the people in North Carolina had described? Breathing hard, he turned a couple more times to make sure he was alone, then stopped.

  Calm down, he told himself. Whatever this is, you can deal with it.

  Still, he kept his shield up as he oriented himself and started walking in the direction Kolinsky had indicated on the map. It was quite dark out here, surrounded by thick trees and ground vegetation. Oddly, though, he didn’t hear anything—not even normal nature sounds. He’d never been to Louisiana, but based on his meager understanding of the area, he expected to hear crickets, other insects, and small animals rustling along the ground.

  And alligators, his helpful mental voice suggested.

  Shut up, you muppet. There aren’t any alligators here.

  How do you know that?

  He realized he didn’t know that. He truly did need to step up his American-geography game if he was going to keep popping all over the country looking for weird stuff. It didn’t matter, though—he did know alligators weren’t the monstrous things depicted in the movies. He was one of the strongest mages on the planet these days—if he couldn’t deal with a cranky lizard or two, he should retire and take up stamp collecting or something.

  He grinned as another sudden thought struck him and broke his tension: he was dealing with a cranky lizard. That was the reason he was out here in the first place.

  He shifted to magical sight and moved forward, taking care about where he stepped. There might not be alligators in the immediate vicinity, but there could easily be snakes lurking in the underbrush. He didn’t know if they had poisonous snakes in Louisiana either, but that was a safer bet than the alligators.