Montague & Strong Detective Novels Box Set: Montague & Strong Detective Novels Books, 1 through 3 (Montague & Strong Case Files)

by Orlando A. Sanchez

“Or you can leave Georgianna alone and leave here in one piece,” I said calmly. “Your call.”

  “We never reverse a shunning. She’s not one of us and needs to be removed.”

  “You mean killed because she’s different?”

  “She’s an abomination to our house. She needs to be purged.”

  “Excuse me?” I asked. “Are you really standing there telling me—I can’t believe you. I should just shoot you and get it over with.”

  Monty had gone silent, which worried me, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off the vampire. Behind the leader of the Unfriendlies, a figure materialized. It was Michiko. I lowered Grim Whisper, and the vampire thought I was giving up—mistake. He took two steps forward and jerked back as Michiko whiplashed him to the floor with enough force to crack the parquet.

  She grabbed him by the neck and held him aloft. He gasped with pain at the suddenness of being whisked off his feet. She narrowed her eyes at me and drew her lips tight with a sharp intake of breath. Her hand began smoking where she held him.

  “Simon, please remove the restraints. They’re distracting,”

  I kept Grim Whisper pointed at him as I walked over. I placed my hand on each of the restraints and they clicked open. Monty had keyed them to our touch. I took them off the vampire and stepped back just as Monty crashed through the living room window.

  “You could have just knocked,” I said, and he stared daggers at me. I walked over to the broken window. “Olga is going to have a fit if she sees this.”

  He dusted off the glass and walked over to where Michiko stood. He gave her a brief nod, which she returned. The darkroom door opened and Georgianna poked her head out.

  “What is your name?” Michiko asked the vamp. “Lying will only end your life. I advise against it.”

  “That’s Colin,” Georgianna said. “He’s one of the elders of our clan.”

  “Bitch, I’m going to kill you. I’m—” he said before Michiko cut his words short by applying pressure to his neck.

  “He invaded our home and attacked us,” Monty said. “I claim the right of retaliation.”

  “No,” Michiko said. “I can’t grant you that. This shunning is more complicated than it seems. If you kill him, it will escalate matters and force my hand. As it stands, we can no longer relocate her.”

  Monty stood perfectly still for a few moments. I stole a glance at his eyes for gold circles to make sure he didn’t go executioner on us but they remained normal. After a few more seconds, he gave a sharp nod.

  I let out a breath.

  “Then you will provide reparations for the damage incurred,” he said. “And restore the offices to their previous state.”

  “Of course,” Michiko answered and nodded. “Everything will be covered by the Dark Council. Anything else?”

  “Since you can’t relocate her, we will take her as our charge,” he said, gesturing to Georgianna. “Until other options can be explored.”

  “You overstep your bounds, mage,” Michiko said, her voice tight. “She isn’t a mage, she’s a vampire.”

  “Who’s been shunned by her own kind,” Monty said and looked around. “Where is your usual escort? You aren’t even here officially, are you?”

  Michiko smiled. I’d seen her give that same smile to future victims. “Well played, mage.”

  “Are you sure it’s a good idea to piss off the very powerful vampire in the room?” I whispered to him.

  “Are we in agreement?” Monty asked, ignoring me.

  “I will return this filth to his clan and you will keep her safe as your charge,” Michiko said, glancing at Colin. “As you may have guessed, she has special needs.”

  “It would explain the shunning,” Monty answered. “We will address her needs.”

  “It would be great if you could explain it to me while you’re at it,” I said, confused.

  Michiko stepped close to me, still holding Colin like a ragdoll.

  “You are fortunate to have your mage friend, Simon-kun.”

  “I don’t know if I’d use the word fortunate. It’s probably closer to cursed,” I said, looking down into her eyes. “I need a favor.”

  “What kind of favor?” she asked with a dangerous smile. “Is this something better discussed in private?”

  “No, no, not that kind of favor,” I said and took a step back. “I need a location made neutral territory.”

  “This is no easy task. Where?”

  “The Randy Rump—the butcher a block away from here,” I said. “We don’t have neutral territory downtown.”

  “The butcher shop owned by the Werebear?” she asked.

  “You know it?” I asked, surprised.

  She gave me the ‘sometimes I wonder how your brain even operates’ look and nodded. “Yes, I know it, but it’s not my decision alone. I will bring it before the Council.”

  “Thanks, I really appreciate it,” I said, and she stepped close again.

  She gave me one of her rare smiles and then grew serious.

  “Your security is pathetic; get it fixed. A work crew will be here within the hour to repair the damage.”

  “What about your mountain?” I asked, looking at the prone form of Yama. “He wasn’t much of a deterrent now.”

  “Let him regain his honor, or end his life,” she replied dismissively. “I will leave that up to you. I have no use for him.”

  She could be one cold-hearted bitch. Not that I would ever say that to her face. I nodded and shuddered as she ran her finger across my cheek.

  “I will see you again soon,” she said, and nicked my cheek, drawing blood. “Try to stay alive until then.”

  “Top of my to-do list.”

  She stepped back and vanished, taking Colin the Unfriendly with her. I turned to assess the damage, which was extensive.

  “Well, she’s right about our security, or lack thereof,” Monty grumbled as he made his way around the debris of his entrance. “Especially when she comes and goes as she pleases.”

  “Monty, what the hell just happened?”

  TWENTY

  MONTY BUZZED DOWNSTAIRS and handed me the spare set of keys to the Goat. The Pontiac GTO got its name from the Ferrari 250 GTO, a rare and beautiful piece of automotive art. The GTO stands for Grand Tourismo Omologato. I’m sure no one wanted to say that mouthful—so GTO became Goat, and a legendary muscle car was christened.

  “I’m not driving that monstrosity,” he said. “It was all I could do to get here in one piece. Bloody steering wheel is on the wrong side.”

  “I don’t think you will be attacked again,” I said to Georgianna. “Try and get Yama the Mountain Range conscious and we’ll talk when we get back.”

  “I’ll clean up some of this mess in the meantime,” she said. “Tristan, thank you. I really appreciate what you did for me.”

  “Don’t make me regret it,” Monty said and headed out the door. “Every action you take from now on reflects on us.”

  “Make sure this door is locked,” I said, pulling the door behind me. “Michiko’s people will probably just show up. Don’t attack them: we need the repairs done.”

  “Got it and thank you too, Simon,” she said as she approached the door. “I don’t know how you stood up to a vampire alone.”

  “As long as I have my friends, I’m never alone,” I said, and headed out the door to catch up with Monty.

  Andrei stood in the lobby by the entrance of the building. I was surprised Olga wasn’t there to greet me in all her frigid glory considering the amount of noise we made. He gave me a knowing nod and I knew he had avoided calling her.

  “Sorry about all the noise,” I said.

  “You fix by tomorrow,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

  I held out my hand and we shook.

  “Thank you. I owe you.”

  “Da, go, talk to scary friend. Fix his face. He looks angry,” he said, and gestured with his chin at Monty.

  “I’ll do that,” I said and stepped outside into
the evening cold where Monty was waiting.

  We stood in front of the building in silence. The valet pulled the Purple Goat up to the entrance. It rumbled to a stop as I admired the classic lines. He handed the keys to Monty and headed inside.

  “Monty—” I started.

  “You used the mark. Did you summon her?”

  “Yes, you didn’t give me an option, Monty. You went full Vader on me,” I said, looking out into the cold night. “I don’t know how I summoned her, but I did.”

  “I apologize, Simon,” he said after a pause. “It’s not like me to lose control like that.”

  “You never lose control. What happened?”

  “The situation brought up bad memories. It was a little too close to home,” he said. “It won’t happen again, you have my word.”

  “If I get lost in the Ebonsoul and you go terminator like that, it would be—”

  “The outcome would be horrific,” he whispered. “I’ll make sure that doesn’t come to pass.”

  “I know you’re worried about Roxanne—”

  “Don’t,” he said, raising a hand and cutting me off. “If you try and make a bloody funny remark, I’ll test your immortality myself.”

  “I was just going to say I know you’re concerned,” I said.

  “You’ve no idea and we’re wasting time. Let’s go.”

  I lifted my hands in surrender as he walked over to the passenger side and got in. He was never one for overt displays of emotion and he was right. As close as we were, I didn’t know much about him or his past. I only knew I trusted him with my life. Right now that would have to be enough.

  I got in the Goat and fastened my seatbelt. The engine roared and settled into a purr and I felt the vibration in my gut. I pulled off and jumped on the West Side Highway headed downtown to Water Street and Hades.

  “You couldn’t get it in a different color? I mean, purple?”

  “The actual color is Byzantium, not purple, and apparently the color serves a purpose, according to Cecil,” he said.

  “Right, it was probably a color he just wanted to offload and lucky us, we get the Purple Goat,” I muttered under my breath.

  Monty sighed and looked out the window.

  “Did Hades say what he wanted? He was terse when we spoke,” he said.

  “Just that he had information we needed and we’re in over our heads. Facing exploding sorcerers, Chaos, and the ogre made that kind of obvious, though.”

  “He knows Chaos is involved? Has Ramirez called us with that inventory from the museum?”

  “Not yet,” I said and pulled out my phone.

  “Sorry, what are you doing?” Monty asked with alarm.

  “I’m calling Ramirez,” I said while swerving around traffic. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

  “Getting us killed,” he said and snatched my phone. “Focus on the driving, please.”

  Monty pressed the speed dial I had for Ramirez. It rang several times before he picked up.

  “Put it on speaker,” I said. “Ramirez, any news?”

  “Oh, you want news?” he snapped back. “I have the museum director on my ass because their entire façade is missing. I have my boss on my ass for the damage to the museum and the squad cars.”

  “NYTF brass loves to complain, you know that. They only see numbers.”

  “I know,” he said and sighed. “Several of my guys are still going through psych eval because they saw something but don’t know what they saw.”

  “I could explain—” I offered.

  “Don’t bother. You’ll only make things worse. On top of that the media is here making it a PR nightmare clusterfuck. Any other news you would like?”

  “I was really thinking more about the museum inventory, but the rest of that sounds like you have your hands full. Do you want me to call you back?”

  “I don’t want you to call me at all,” he said. “You think you could swing that?”

  “Ramirez,” Monty said, “I think the inventory is crucial to finding out why they were under attack.”

  “So far, all I know is the museum was showing an exhibit on the supernatural war called ‘War & Peace.’ They had drawings and artifacts from the war on display.”

  “Can you check to see if any of the artifacts are missing?” Monty asked and rubbed his chin. “Also who organized the exhibit?”

  “Right now they’re still dealing with the fact that most of the front of the museum is missing. As soon as I get the list and the organizer, I’ll call you.”

  He hung up and Monty looked off into the distance. I could tell he was trying to make sense of something.

  “How many artifacts from the war survived?” I asked.

  “Quite a few, but they were mostly innocuous items, like old uniforms and things of that nature. The dangerous items were removed to different vaults throughout the world.”

  “Who oversaw the removal of those?”

  “Each respective government had a representative present,” he said. “The magical items were handled by the Mage Consortium Reclamation Unit.”

  “The what?”

  “The mage schools were not enough individually, so a group was formed during the war comprised of the best of each school,” he said. “I was part of the MBU—the battle unit. After the war, another group was created—MCRU— and their job was to scour the battlefields for anything magical that was potentially dangerous and to secure it.”

  I parked the Goat in front of One New York Plaza and got out. I checked the keys for a fob to lock the car and saw none.

  “How do we lock the car? Key, or do I wave my hands over it in special magical sequence?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Put your thumb on the handle,” Monty answered, pointing at the door. “Then step back.”

  I did as he instructed and heard a metal clang as the doors locked. Something that sounded like a hammer striking an anvil came from under the hood. An orange glow flashed over the Goat and faded slowly.

  “It’s locked now,” he said, stepping away from the car. “The engine is inoperable until we unlock it.”

  “What was the glow? Force field?” I asked, gently touching the Goat. Nothing happened.

  “No, it’s a runic defense to prevent a magical attack or tampering.”

  “Oh, a magical force field. Nice.”

  “Runic defense—not a force field of any kind.”

  “Biometric scanner? That impressive,” I said, looking at the now locked car. “How did he get my fingerprint?”

  “Cecil is very thorough.” Monty approached the entrance, looking at the top floors. “Hades keeps odd hours.”

  “He probably doesn’t sleep, being a god and all.”

  “It’s possible, but he could’ve told us whatever it was when we were here yesterday,” Monty said.

  “You think it’s possible the MCRU missed something and it ended up in the museum? Or someone kept an artifact?”

  “I suppose it’s possible,” Monty answered. “It was right after the war. Things were disorganized for several days.”

  We entered the lobby. The security men next to the massive wooden reception desk looked up and motioned for us to approach. We placed our credentials on the desk. It was a different receptionist, though she had a similar appearance—tall, sky-blue eyes, and almost white blond hair.

  “Is she a—?” I started.

  “Yes, she is,” Monty said, looking at the receptionist. “I believe he’s expecting us.”

  “He is,” she said. “Someone will be down shortly to escort you. Please have a seat.”

  She returned our credentials and gestured to the waiting area. A steaming kettle was on a tray with cups next to it. Monty fixed himself a cup and sighed as he sat down to drink it.

  “Isn’t it a little late for tea?”

  “No such thing,” he said and sipped.

  “He takes his security seriously,” I said as I sat in one of the chairs opposite Monty. “Maybe we should increase th
e runes around the office?”

  “Yes, because they are so effective against your vampire coming and going as she pleases,” he said. “We need a deterrent inside the office. If I rune the interior, the chances of it being triggered by you or one of our new guests makes it too dangerous.”

  “When you spoke to Hades, did he say anything about ‘visitors in the office’?”

  Monty nodded. “That was the only reason I drove back in that beast of a car,” he said.

  “How did he know we had visitors in the office?”

  “We can ask him, though I doubt he will answer,” Monty said, looking up as he put his cup down.

  The same blonde from the day before walked over to us. This time she wore a black business suit with matching heels. It had the same sheen as her other suit.

  “Good evening,” she said. “This way, please.”

  We entered the elevator and the doors whispered closed behind us. She inserted a key next to the button for the penthouse and pressed a button labeled PH.

  “I have another question for you. Do you mind?” I said.

  “Ask,” she said.

  I saw Monty look at me and shake his head. He stepped back and to the side, probably to give the Valkyrie enough room to swing at me.

  “Your suit. What is it made of? That’s unlike any fabric I’ve ever seen.”

  “It’s not fabric. Its drakescale,” she said.

  “You mean dragon scale? As in a real dragon?”

  “Think chainmail, only one hundred times stronger,” she said as the doors opened to our floor. “Besides, we both know ‘real dragons’ don’t exist.”

  Monty and I stepped out as she remained inside the elevator.

  “Neither do Valkyries, and yet here you are,” I said. “Who’s your tailor?”

  “Good evening, gentlemen,” she said with a smile as the doors closed.

  “‘Who’s your tailor?’ Really?” Monty said. “Why didn’t you ask her out for coffee and biscuits?”

  “Do you think she would’ve accepted? Could you imagine the stories she could tell?”

  “I can imagine what your vampire would do,” he said as we approached Hades’s office. “Do you recall the last ‘date’ you were on?”

  I shuddered at the memory. Everything had gone well until Michiko showed up and expressed her disapproval—violently.