by C. R. Jane
"Off the top of my head? There's a couple of guys in Chinatown."
"There always seems to be a couple of guys in Chinatown."
"That's right." She snapped off her latex gloves. "Why? Do you need someone?"
I didn't like to tell her about the police stuff that came through, so I decided to talk about the one thing I thought I could without revealing anything confidential or looking like a dumbass. "Just the veils and the Hunter's Moon. The ghosts can be kind of annoying."
She nodded her head. "Here, I'll do a quick hamsa on your wrist for spirits in general. But totally go to Chinatown. The guy I know's a little squirrelly, especially around cops, but I'll make sure I get the hamsa done with one of my marks. That way, he won't question that I was the one that vetted you."
"That would be helpful, thanks Ricci." That brought to mind something. "Say, you're more into this, you know, juju and magic stuff more than me."
She snorted. "Which considering all that you've seen with the Remnant Gods, I don't see how you're not a devout practitioner."
"Jaded, I guess. Anyway, about marks—people will know this is yours?"
"Of course. They know your glyphs are mine and they'll know that this is mine," she said, indicating the tattoo she inked onto my skin.
I peered at it. "How exactly? I don't see anything different there."
She finished with a flourish and sat up to look at me. "Like you said. Juju. There are markers that you just know. Like an aura almost, or like, a scent. Like what Vesper smells around people." Ricci shrugged. "It's just nature."
I knew that Vesper smelled more than just auras, but kept that to myself. But I jumped on the idea of scents in general, and how they could brush off on people. "Could markers be transferred, like from being nearby someone?"
"Yes and no. If it was bespelled to do it, that would be one thing. But stuff like this? Letting you carry my mark on your skin with enough magic that tells others that I marked this on you? It's a flesh transfer." She paused in her work and looked at me curiously then. "I want to ask why, but then I'm afraid you'll say that it's part of your ongoing investigation thing."
I squirmed, discomforted by the fact that she made me sound kind of like Deimos, and how I hated being cut out of anything. And I definitely hated…humanizing him. I sighed. "It is." I stared at the little golden hamsa. A protection against evil forces. "You've been great, Ricci, thanks."
I wandered around Chinatown and was convinced I was in the wrong place. It was a little corner shop a few blocks away from where I picked up tea with Vesper from time to time.
The windows were covered with newspaper and it looked to be some kind of stationery store. I looked at the business card Ricci gave me and then back to the number on the building, which was currently peeling away.
I pushed open the door and stopped abruptly. Sitting on heaps of cardboard boxes and newspapers bundled in twine were six full-grown adults. They looked like they were contentedly shooting the breeze and yet there was no room. The square footage was easily no bigger than a jail cell, and felt more claustrophobic.
The closest older gentleman greeted me, his wrinkled brown skin eating up his features as he smiled. I ignored his pipe and the smoke that curled from it. If he wasn't afraid to set himself on fire or suffocate himself smoking in this place, it was no concern of mine.
"Hello? I'm Lieutenant Troy from NYPID, Major Cases Squad. Is there a Lee Peng here?" I said the name deliberately. It felt like I was asking for some guy named John Smith.
At first there was a rustling of polite glowy smiles and nods, especially when faced with my badge. But as soon as I pulled that business card out—with my hamsa visible—the man at the farthest back corner made a glottal sound.
As one, they all seemed to move with a focused precision, moving the towers of boxes and newspapers aside in a way that reminded me of the flipping around of a Rubik's Cube. In the middle of this activity, the man stood still, his slight build and the faint lines at the corners of his eyes the only signs that he was an aged man. Considering how spry these much older-looking men were, I figured this man was a lot more powerful—and older—than he appeared.
"Are you Lee Peng?" I asked, pointing to the card.
He answered me with a nod and placid smile, all while plucking the card from my hand and disappearing it into his robes before I could even blink.
I was about to protest when the others uncovered a seal made up of magical symbols I wasn't about to try to interpret. The man said something in a series of clicks and broken words and the seal melted into the floor, creating a spiraling staircase down into a dark basement. The man turned toward me and spoke in clear, unaccented English. "Come with me, Lieutenant."
Sure. Going into the dark cellar of a cramped storefront was exactly how I wanted to spend the day. I gestured for him to go first, and with a slight bow to me, he did.
As I descended the stairs after him, I felt like I was entering the storage facility from Indiana Jones. The din of the city beyond these walls had been so clear in the storefront, but faded away into nothing the deeper I went.
At the end of the landing, a huge catalog of artifacts stretched before us. "Whoa. Now this is what I call a shop."
He smiled. "Most of these items are here as special storage. But if you see anything you want, I'll be sure to ask the owner and negotiate a deal, if you would like. That has happened in the past."
"Nah, I just need someone who can create a talisman for me, that's all." We kept walking and arrived at a table that had three rings encircling it. I was sure that wasn't an accident.
"So, Lieutenant. How can I help you?"
I wanted to clarify. "You're Lee Peng?"
He nodded. "Yes, and that is what you may call me."
Yeah, definitely not his true name.
"Sure, mister. My friend Ricci," I raised my wrist, and he nodded and smiled at the hamsa, "told me that you would either know how to make a talisman or be able to hook me up with one."
"Both. Depending on the need."
I sifted through my head how much he needed to know and what I could share with him. Would I be able to ask if he could keep an Elder God away? Chaos? "One that could keep anything that could travel through the veils away for at least through the Hunter's Moon. Would you be able to do that?"
Lee Peng closed his eyes slowly and nodded, engaging his entire body in the rocking motion. It was like he was keeping pace with a rhythm only he could hear. "Ah. Anything that can travel the Veil, can breach any protective barrier or boundary space. A talisman, in effect, would be like the same thing. It creates a boundary around you." He spoke more to himself than to me, and so I kept silent. "Yes. A custom piece. Only a custom piece can be effective for you. One to hold against Shadow and Bone." When he opened his eyes, they clouded over with a peculiarly silver sheen.
He took a cauldron out and placed it on the table. A black lacquered box followed. He took the lid off of it, and then with a flourish, took off a shroud to reveal a skull.
My hand went to my gun automatically. "I hope that's not real."
"Of course it's real, Lieutenant. It's just not recent." He pressed his palms together in peace. "Before you war with your conscience, know that this skull was purchased by me and I own it. Medical use and all that."
Medical use? I moved my hand away from my gun, eyeballing the stuff around me. With the froofery around here, this could technically be labeled an apothecary.
"I will need for you to answer my assistant's questions, and then we can customize a talisman for you." Lee struck a mallet on the side of a crystal bowl that made me nervous until I realized that it created a resonant humming sound.
At my expression, he smiled. "Singing bowl."
I nodded slowly like that explained a lot. I looked around, expecting to see someone approach. "You mentioned an assistant?"
The skull inside the box glowed and a sibilant voice that reminded me a little bit of a polite snake charmer rose above the bowl's resonanance. "Hello, Lieutenant. What talisman are we looking for today?"
Great. I didn't like shopping, but it seemed like it was on the table today.
"Well, something against the ghosts. The veils are getting thinner."
He tsked. "We all know that, Lieutenant. What we don't know is the truth from your own lips. Spells are tricky and most follow the old rules. You must be able to reveal something specific, otherwise we could create for you a beautiful shield that would protect you from nothing."
I grumbled. "It's really that precise?"
Lee answered with the slight raise of his bushy eyebrow. "Do you not wear a vest beneath your clothing even now that protects against a certain caliber of bullet, Lieutenant? How well would it protect you at close range? Or from a shotgun blast to the face? Or a cannonball fired at your belly?"
I raised my hands. "Okay, point taken. I have the mark of the Hunter on me, whatever that means. Any solutions for that?"
"No."
Okay, then. Before I could thank him for his time, he did that rocking motion against with his body.
"There are no protections from the Hunter if he chooses to move against you. He has not, though."
I was confused. "What do you mean, everyone's telling me that the Hunter's after me and has marked me." I stuffed my hands into my pockets before I could run them up and down my arms. Didn't want him to think I was scared.
"Ah. A hunter is after you and has marked you. But it is not the Hunter of legend, the one who is the face of the moon and harbinger for the Elder Gods."
"How do you know?"
He rocked back, seemingly amused. "You would have been approached by him, offered a contract to work with him and reaped for his purposes or have been killed for turning him down. Have you had any of these experiences, Lieutenant?"
"Oh. No." I swallowed. Man, I was elegant. "Nothing like that has happened to me."
He nodded. "As I have figured. This can be done. It's very tricky. It needs to be attuned to you so that it can weave itself with your shields. Your aura." He said the last part with a gesture of his hands, as if I didn't know that auras encircled the body. "Yours is beautiful, by the way, Lieutenant. It's the mark on it that told me a little of why you may have come today. We shall work on this."
For the better part of an hour, I watched them slave over the talisman, murmuring and gesturing more than speaking actual words. Every now and again, the skull asked seemingly random questions, such as my favorite memory or the brand of toothpaste I preferred. Lee Peng threw things into the cauldron as I spoke. From time to time, he would cluck and add something else when I second guessed myself and changed my answers.
In the end, Lee Peng crafted me a bracelet. It wouldn't win any designer awards. It had no fewer than ten little circles fastened together with a metal chain link. He held it in both hands and nodded at me. "Ready?"
This was what I was here for. I let him wrap it around me as he explained the various elements that he and his assistant used to create it. "No spirit or 'bad juju' will harm you, Lieutenant. You will be protected from those types of enchantments." He tied it off with a flourish of his slim, elegant fingers. "This does not protect you from physical attacks. But the nature of the mark itself should be changed now. It is like trying to change fingerprints or scent markers. Difficult, but still possible."
Well, at least that was something more than what I had before coming here. And, the reassurance that a big baddie wasn't out for me. "Thanks, Mr. Peng." I scrutinized the bracelet in the flickering candle light. There were twelve circles wrapped around my wrist securely. Each of them was stamped with symbols that I was sure were part of the protection spell. "So, what do I owe you?"
He smiled at me, a gentle tug at the edges of his lips. "Defeat the one who hunts you. That will be payment enough."
I wanted to say something, anything, but my gut told me to keep my yap shut for once. I nodded. "Okay, then. I'll consider this payment in full."
Lee Peng escorted me toward another direction of the store. "This way will be faster, especially since I believe you are expecting a phone call." He swiped his hand toward the wall, opening a door I hadn't seen and revealing the city street just beyond. "Be well, Lieutenant."
I opened my mouth to ask him how this was possible when my phone lit up and buzzed in a cacophony of notifications. While I was distracted, the door had closed behind me, with not even a seam in the building to show me where I had just walked through.
"Troy? Lieutenant?" a tinny voice yelled at me.
A phone call. Right.
"Yeah, this is Troy. Is that you, Carter?"
"Yes, sir, I'm here with Officer Caballero. Central Park. I'll tag your phone with the map. We got another dead body."
Chapter 8
The Hunter's Moon waxed brightly in the night sky like something out of prophecy. The news liked to blame crazy shit like this on the full moon or Halloween or the Remnant Gods, but I knew better.
People didn't need a reason to be vile to one another. I had no problem believing that humans killed each other in a variety of gruesome ways.
I tore uptown in record time. It was like traffic just knew to get the fuck out of my way. My navigation system directed me through the parkway, where I saw Carter running toward me across the green, waving her hands in the air.
The universal symbol for danger. Chills skittered down my spine. I glanced at the new bracelet on my wrist. Uttering both a prayer and a curse under my breath, I spun the wheel and came to a screeching halt, spitting up gravel and rocks.
I unlocked the passenger door as she careened into it. In one motion she yanked it open and slammed it closed, poking her finger down on the lock with a finality. Her eyes were wild, pink flushed her face, and her hair whipped out of her slicked-back bun in a fluffy halo.
"Carter? Weren't you with Javi?"
"We split up so I could check out the surrounding copse of trees and Gods, there was something in there."
I looked past her. From here I couldn't see much. "Like what?"
"Bad! Like a huge creature bad. Like the darkness and trees were moving."
A lot of the Remnant Gods called this home. Even Deimos' castle wasn't far from here. I was about to tell her that she might have just seen a God in his native form or something, when a shadow that cleared the tops of trees moved against the moonlight.
I couldn't see the rest of the body, but I distinctly saw antlers or horns.
"Drive!" Carter shrieked.
She didn't need to tell me twice.
I slammed down on the gas pedal and peeled away just as I saw a flicker of a nature God clear the tree line. It faded in the moonlight.
I gripped the steering wheel. "Carter, call it in."
"Wait, what about Officer Caballero?"
I spared her a glance. "You said you split?"
"Yeah, but he's still there."
"What?" I slammed on my brakes. Before the car even stopped, I reached over, grabbed her by the collar, and yanked her toward me, straining her seatbelt. "Do not tell me you would have let me leave one of my men behind." My voice was an inhuman snarl and she had the good sense to look scared.
"No, sir! I wouldn't have. The south gate, on the other side of the reservoir! We parked there."
"Well fuck, that's exactly opposite of the way I'm driving." I banked a hard left
and tore back the way I came in order to make it to the south gate.
"Couldn't we just drive around the other way? It's all a big loop!"
"And waste a good ten to twenty?" I pushed my car to a whining scream. All kinds of images flickered through my mind; the one that haunted me most was the mounds of blood and gore that he could be in
"Sir! The thing could be there."
"And Javi could be down." I poked at her watch. "Did you call it in? Call him?" What the fuck was the point of all that fancy bullshit if it didn't do everything, including read your mind?
I racked my memory. Had she called him in the first place?
And then several things happened at the same time.
A flock of crows, bigger than I'd ever seen, swarmed the sky, blotting out the moon.
Carter took out her gun and aimed it at me.
The looming figure of that nature God flickered back into view.
I reacted on pure instinct. I grabbed her wrist and pushed it away from me. The gun fired out the window, but the sound exploded in such small quarters.
The car careened side to side, plowing through the green. I slammed Carter's wrist against the steering wheel, and she finally let go of the gun with a shrieking, "Look out!"
I slammed on the brakes, but we bounced over tree roots, clipping massive trunks and low branches until finally crashing headlong into a juvenile tree.
I hoped the tree spirit wasn't in its home turf. That was my last thought I had before I cracked my head on the steering wheel.
I woke to grappling and remembered that I was fighting Carter. She knew where Officer Caballero was. Carter was somehow messing with this investigation, possibly knew who the murderer was, probably was the murderer. I knew I didn't like her.
If she would only stop moving, I could make her sit down and tell me what I wanted to hear.
"Hey, bitch, do me a favor and stop and handcuff yourself." My words slurred. But after a second, she shook her head out. She was injured too, favoring her left arm.
