With a nod, Tony took his place and the barista took me aside. “Look, I can't just walk into Maggie's office and tell her a stranger is asking about our surveillance without giving her logical justification. Why are you asking for the manager and our surveillance?”
I hesitated a second, then did something I'd never done before. I pulled out my ID from my back pocket and handed it to him.
He flipped it open and arced an eyebrow. “NSA?”
“That's my ID and vocation. The reason I'm asking after your surveillance and your manager is personal.”
He waited, and I went on, “I met a kid near here around Christmas. I brought her in, bought her a snack. We ate, we talked, I went my way, she went hers. A few days ago I was told she's been missing since that day. I wanted to take a look, to see if there's anything that can help me find out what happened to her.”
“A homeless kid?” he asked, his eyes sad.
“In a way,” I replied.
The barista looked down at the ID again before handing it back. “Maggie won't give you access to our surveillance without a warrant.”
I must've looked as discouraged as I felt because the guy's brown eyes softened. “But I'll let you know that our feed deletes itself on the last day of the month. You won't find anything recorded that far back.”
* * *
Later in the morning, I was drawing Frizz a bath when the doorbell rang. The talk with Maggie hadn't done any good. She hadn't asked for a warrant, but she let me know that even if I got one, the earliest feed she would be able to show me started on February first.
I told Frizz I'd send whoever it was away and be back to give him the promised bath, padded barefoot to the door and peered through the peephole. A guy stood there, his back turned, and he didn't look familiar. I was contemplating the merits of leaving him there when he turned to ring the doorbell again and I saw his face.
Eyes narrowing, I opened the door, glad the temperatures had risen enough that I only felt mild discomfort.
“Hello. It's Roxy, isn't it?” the man asked with a charming smile, a dimple appearing on his right cheek.
“Roxanne. Only my friends call me Roxy,” I corrected in a cool tone.
His smile dimmed a fraction, his moss-green eyes losing some warmth.
“We've met before. Le Parisien? I'm David, Vicky's boyfriend.”
“No, you're not. I remember very well that she gave you the boot.” His expression darkened as I leaned forward. “You guys are over, pal. Go find someone else and leave Vicky alone.”
“She just needs some time to get over her mad. We were good together, she'll see her error and realize she still wants me.” There was a gleam of obsession in his eyes I didn't like.
“No, she won't. She's moved on, David, she's not getting back with you.”
“No. If she sees how much I still care, she'll remember how good we were together. She keeps the gifts I send her. That means she enjoys the attention I give her”
“Do you go through her garbage bin? Because I'm sure that's where the gifts end up. Let her be.” I hesitated, then added, “You're scaring her with all the attention. Give her space. Stop stalking her.”
David's expression grew thoughtful. “You think she'll consider coming back if I give her some room?”
I hesitated again, then decided on honesty, “I don't think she will. But you're suffocating her now, and I know you're only pushing her away.”
* * *
Later in the evening, after Frizz and I had a long restorative nap, the bell rang again. Ding-dong, ding-dong.
“God, can't you just use the key I gave you?” I muttered, thinking it was Vicky, too lazy to dig in her purse for the spare key. But when I opened the door, it was Diggy who stood there. And I should've known. After David had left, I'd called Vicky to make sure she was alright and was told that she'd been sick that morning, and that after the bout of vomiting, she'd felt too weak to go to work. I decided not to tell her about David's visit, promising myself I'd deal with him myself if things got stickier.
Diggy glanced back inside the apartment before asking to come in.
I stepped aside for him to pass. “What is it?”
“There's something I need you to check for me. Get dressed. Please,” he added after a pause.
“Put on your warm coat. It's freezing out there,” he called.
I put away the short jacket I'd just picked up and went for a long gray wool coat.
“You expecting your friend tonight?” he asked once I'd joined him in the living room.
Wary, I asked, “Maybe, why?”
Diggy hesitated. “Maybe you should call her and tell her you have some work tonight. I don't know how long we'll be gone.”
Alarm bells began ringing inside my head. “Where are we going?”
“To the Low Lands.”
“But hours there pass in minutes here.”
Diggy's lips thinned. “Not in the mountains. Time there is known to be erratic, depending on which planet's path you're on.”
I paused, an anxious pang travelling through my body. “Why there? What's in there?”
“That's what I need you to find out.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“I want you to tell me if you sense anything, anything at all that feels out of place here.”
Diggy had flashed us to the same mountain where we trained every day, the only difference was he'd flashed us halfway to the top instead of the valley. Flashing any higher could get us caught on a time loop even before we hit the ground, so we'd hike the rest of the way and adjust course as we went.
“Anything you think is strange, or a smell, or whatever you sense or feel that you haven't before; I need to know. Alright?”
“But isn't your sense of smell better than mine?”
“Maybe. And I'm just cautioning. I want you to keep your senses open, not to dismiss anything.”
I nodded, my stomach contents souring.
Diggy paused before saying, “We might not find anything, and that's all right. I just need a different perspective of things, a new eye.” He waited for my nod before he turned and began hiking up the mountain.
We moved through a cemetery of dead trees. Some lay broken on the ground, some no more than twigs. Some lay horizontal, others were uprooted. Some stood tall, as if it waited for life to return as abruptly as it had left it. Sometimes the brambles were so thick, so dense; we had to hack our way through. Everything was a blackened husk of a life long gone, as if fire had consumed it, though not enough to bring it down to ashes. Some of the horizontal trunks were wider than Diggy and I combined, others taller than a two-story building, even uprooted. All gave testimonial to the devastation Remo Drammen could cause if he managed to bring other beings from his world. If three caused all this, I wondered with increasing dread, what would happen to life in general when an entire planet trespassed through? How close was Remo Drammen to opening this portal?
I imagined the land and undergrowth full of life, full of scurrying and foraging animals. The image my brain conjured was startling in its beauty, especially when I pictured myself lying on the damp ground in a lush clearing surrounded by rustling leaves, those colorful planets in the night sky swirling and dancing, the grass green and soft, the musical sounds of a small stream flowing downhill.
What other kind of creatures inhabited this land, besides gargoyles? Had there ever been any warmth? Or snow? I'd dressed warmly, with a wool sweater that had seen better days, black jeans and combat boots, and a silky olive-green scarf tucked inside the gray coat. Thick gloves completed the ensemble. Despite all this, the cold cut through, provoking goosebumps to break all over my body. I eyed Diggy's half open leather jacket, the V-neck charcoal-gray sweater peeking through, his bare neck and hands, and wondered if he felt the chill at all.
We trekked in silence, up into the dead forest, each of us lost in our own thoughts, until we reached a small clearing. Rocks of every size and shape lay strewn haphazardly, needle
points that could tear flesh as easily as a fine scalpel.
Diggy paused at the edge, his back to me, and waited until I reached him.
“There's a small cave up ahead,” he began, pointing at the darkness. “There's a ward at the entrance. Could have been there for a long time, could be new.” He waited for a nod before continuing. “This ward is complex, meant to keep things out, not to be seen or felt. It's a working I haven't seen before, with a signature I don't recognize. But this ward isn't warding against humans.” He fell quiet, waiting for me to catch on.
“You want me to go inside and scout out the place?” I guessed.
Diggy's lips thinned. I could tell he hated to ask this of me. Why? Because it endangered me? Because I could do something he couldn't?
“Yes. I can't get any read past the ward. It's like a wall, hard and impenetrable. I want you to walk a few paces, send your awareness ahead; tell me what you sense and what you see.”
I hesitated. If he couldn't get in, and there was something inside I couldn't fight?
“I'll be at the entrance.” He said, reading my mind “One minute, no more. If you don't sense anything at the one minute mark, you come back. If you sense anything at all, you come back.” He searched my face before continuing. “I can break the ward if necessary, but I don't want to alert whoever placed it there for no reason.” He dug inside his pocket and came up with a thin bracelet, took my hand and hooked it around my wrist. “We use this to form a bond between agents, so that we can tell when the other is in trouble, to know where they are. If you feel any sort of alarm or are in danger, I'll know.” He raised his wrist and showed the twin to the one around mine.
I examined the thin bracelet and didn't find any button to press. “It's magic?”
“Yeah, kind of like a charm.”
I glanced at the darkness ahead. “You think this cave is something important?”
“People don't lay wards on a cave entrance to conceal nothing. Either it's hiding something important, or it was, when there had been habitants on this land.”
“And if I don't want to go in?”
He considered my question, his gaze on the dark peak. “I've been staking out this place for the better part of a month. There hasn't been any disturbance, any visitors, anyone going in or coming out in that entire time. I've studied the surrounding area, the ward and all its intricacies, found nothing that's alarming. If I thought there was danger, I wouldn't ask this of you.”
My gaze dropped to the bracelet.
“Precaution will never do you harm,” he said quietly, “but it may save you from unpredictable situations. I don't sense any danger. I don't believe there's any harm, but I don't want to take any chances. I've been known to be wrong at times.” He took a deep breath and added, “If you don't want to go in, then you don't have to. I'll take you home and that's that.”
I glanced from the bracelet up to the darkness ahead, still unable to tell how far up the peak stood, despite all the distance we'd climbed.
“Alright.”
“Thank you.” He searched my face. “I'll have to let the light die from now on. The higher we get, the lighter it gets. Just grab on to me until your eyes adjust.”
He waited for my nod before complete darkness engulfed us. I reached for him, grabbing blindly for his arm, hating myself for the weakness, unable to help it. Blood rushed through my ears as my heart began pounding hard.
“Ok?”
I caught the faint glow from his eyes, like that of a nocturnal animal. He could see me, could see in the dark; all this time the light had been solely for my benefit.
I nodded, loosening the death grip I had on him, and after a hesitant moment he turned and we resumed our hiking through the forest. I stumbled a few times before Diggy began murmuring the layout of the obstacles in my path, whenever he couldn't maneuver us around. The entire time my heart tripped with adrenaline, and I couldn't help but resent the fact that he could hear it, though he made no comments. No creatures followed our progress, the way Frizz and his band had followed Dr. Dean and me when we'd tracked this land all those months ago.
Because Diggy was a stronger predator, the thought crossed through my mind.
Soon I could see the silhouettes of the dead trees, obscure shadows that inclined sideways or horizontally, or even upside-down. I let go of his arm and he stopped at once, waiting for me to grab on again.
“It's ok. I can see some now.” My voice came out louder than I'd intended it to be.
As he'd promised, the moment we broke free of the forest, I was able to see with more clarity. Not as well as when Diggy illuminated the land, but clear enough that I could see the peak of the mountain, bare of any trees, stretching far above, a darker shadow against the black sky.
It was to our left Diggy motioned, and there, against the face of the mountain, stood a cluster of huge onyx-black rocks. Unlike the jagged little rocks I was accustomed seeing, the cluster ahead had no points, looking smooth and unmarked. At first, I couldn't make out the darker shadow in the mountain-face, almost hidden behind all those huge rocks.
We approached quietly; the only sound was our breathing and gentle tap of shoes. The mouth of the cave became clearer the closer we got, and smaller than I'd guessed. It looked unnatural, even to my untrained eyes, as much as something could look unnatural in a land that went against all I knew and was.
We maneuvered around the big rocks, some almost my height , others reaching up to my waist; all at least four or five feet in diameter. The slash in the mountain-face was narrow, wide enough for a person to enter sideways.
We paused a couple feet away, and Diggy glanced over. “Can you sense the ward?” He asked, his voice just a whisper.
I frowned, shaking my head.
“Try harder.”
I closed my eyes, sending my awareness ahead. And sensed nothing. I concentrated harder, my forehead creasing with effort.
“No, nothing,” I murmured.
Diggy nodded, having expected this. “It's not an offensive work, just something to keep predators out. I don't see anything against humans either.”
I looked around the land, at the planets orbiting far in the obsidian sky. Why should it ward against humans?
“No more than a minute. Don't linger. Remember, just take a look inside and send your awareness into the place. I'll be right by the entrance, ready to break the ward if you need me.”
“But what am I searching for?”
“Don't know. I want to know what's in there. See if you can sense anything out of the ordinary.” He fumbled inside a jacket pocket and removed a penlight, similar to the one Dr. Dean had used, and handed it to me.
I turned to the entrance and studied it, took a long calming breath and, focusing hard, sent my awareness toward it one more time. But again, I felt nothing, saw nothing.
Diggy waited. The fact that he wasn't pressuring me, that he would accept my refusal without a word had me clenching my teeth and stepping forward. Sliding sideways, I entered the cave, Diggy's penlight barely making a dent in the darkness. My phobia of enclosed spaces threatened to return the chicken sandwich I'd eaten earlier, and I almost didn't notice the ripple I felt when I passed through. A weird ripple that I red-flagged as something I should tell Diggy about.
A few feet ahead, the ceiling vaulted, the sides opened up, giving me breathing room. And I forgot all about the strange ripple effect. Glancing back outside, I found Diggy's glowing eyes on me. Reassured, I took a couple steps inside.
I shone the light around, down and up, left and right. It was a big chamber, the light not reaching the ceiling. The walls, made of smooth gray stone, stood a fair distance apart.
I took a few cautious steps inside, panicking when I looked back and couldn't find the slash in the rock. But when I returned the direction I had come from, I found it, just a mere slash, a thin gap in the rock. I shone the light out, realizing with a jolt that the light refracted, bouncing back from the entrance, never going through to
the other side. But Diggy was still there, unmoving, his eyes lit with that feral glow. If I had stood there longer, watched him a little closer, I may have seen how unnaturally slow the slight motion of his chest was, how the up and down motion of his eyelashes took an eternity to complete one blink. But I assured myself he was still there, standing guard, and I turned and moved away, in a hurry to scope the place and get the hell out of there.
I shone the light around, but the place was so big, the thin stream died without finding the end wall. The ceiling, just a vague shadow, was bare of stalactites, or stalagmites, or nocturnal animals. It was a huge chamber, the ground little more than pebble-covered rock. There were no footprints, human or animal. My steps echoed loudly, giving me the sense of a vast, empty place. I slowed down, not wanting to get lost in the dark and inched sideways to the wall, where I could retrace steps to the entrance. The back of my hand brushed the dry porousy surface of the rock, telling me the walls weren't so smooth after all.
The penlight split the darkness ahead in two, leaving everything else pitch-black. Behind me was nothing but an impenetrable mass of darkness. I shivered, feeling like the world was closing shut behind me. The ground sloped downward and I followed, careful to avoid slippery pebbles as best as possible and trying, unsuccessfully, to keep my approach silent.
Ahead, the chamber divided into three narrow tunnels, each more sinister than the next.
Alrighty, this is it. I aimed the light into each tunnel. This is it; this is far enough.
This is as far as I'll go. My light was a weak, feeble thing against the massive black, the darkness like a giant stretching within each tunnel.
My heart beat an erratic drum, like the music of death.
Thump bump thump thump bump bump thump.
I closed my eyes, then hurriedly opened them again. No no no, I'll do this with my eyes open.
I took a deep breath through my nose, let it out through my mouth, concentrating on evening my breathing first, my heartbeat next. Then I opened my senses, letting them spread to the sides, before sending them into the caves ahead.
Heir Of Doom Page 16
