by Kal Aaron
“You want to terrorize the victim?” Damien shook his head. “That’s a bad idea, Lyssa. The higher-ups in the EAA will be pissed if I sign off on anything like that. I don’t like it, and it’d cause trouble for both of us short- and long-term.”
“Of course not. I’m trying to find the bastard who made the monster that killed his friend and almost killed him.” Lyssa rolled her eyes. “You’re right. I don’t know this kid did anything but follow up on a tip, but he’s our main lead.” She smiled. “Don’t worry. We can work this a different way. The goal isn’t to freak him out; it’s just to get him to talk. I think someone set this poor bastard up, and I want to find out who did it and punish them.”
“What do you have in mind specifically?” Damien shifted forward, his eyes alight with new interest. “If it doesn’t involve you trying to freak him out, I might be able to help.”
“I’ve gotten a lot of good PR recently,” she replied. “All sorts of nice national stories about how I can take out a house full of cartel thugs and rogues.”
“Okay.” Damien nodded. “Still not following you. What’s your exact plan?”
“I might be wrong about why he doesn’t want to talk to you,” Lyssa said. “It might be less that he’s afraid of going to jail and more that he’s afraid of a Sorcerer melting his brain if he says anything. Having Hecate the famous Torch show up and vow to track down the guy if he gives us the information might make him feel a little better. He’ll know the Society has his back even if a Sorcerer is involved.”
Damien took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Okay. If you promise to go with that angle, I’ll make sure you don’t get any blowback, but absolutely no freaking out the kid for the sake of the case or doing the ‘I’ll swallow your soul’ bit.”
Lyssa snorted. “We just need to give him an excuse to tell the truth. He almost got killed, and his friend ended up being monster food. On some level, he must want someone to know the truth. He’ll want someone punished over this, and he’ll want closure. But I think the best plan is for me to do this alone, so he thinks the government won’t be involved.
“Please don’t disturb the other patients,” Damien said. “The last thing some guy who just had a heart attack needs to see is a woman in a skull mask.”
Chapter Sixteen
Cloaked in her wraith form, Lyssa crept through the shadows in the hospital parking lot. She’d waited until nighttime before driving to the regional county hospital that was treating Lucky Nardi. Damien had given her Lucky’s room number. The victim was recovering on the third floor.
After rematerializing her arm to check a floor plan on the internet, she walked along the side of the building until she stood directly below the room. She covered her hands and feet in shadows and eyed the wall. The spaced light poles did a great job of lighting up the parking lot but left the side of the building under-illuminated. There were enough patches of darkness leading up that she should be able to make it without trouble.
The third-floor location helped Lyssa. Heading inside from the first floor presented too many risks both to her plan and the patients. She wasn’t technically doing anything illegal, but Damien’s warning weighed heavily on her. Scaring an innocent man to death would bother her conscience. That left her sneaking into the building without going through intervening rooms and startling the staff or the patients. She also didn’t want to waste time trying to explain herself to alarmed staff.
Being a Sorceress with a darkness essence had its advantages. Sneaking into a building at night would be trivial for her as long as she concentrated. Sometimes she imagined what life would have been like if she had not decided to focus on a combat-oriented job.
“Are you sure this is wise?” Jofi asked.
She was surprised. He didn’t talk when Damien was around, but they’d had plenty of time since then.
“No, I’m not sure it’s wise, but it’s necessary,” Lyssa replied. “This guy’s our best lead. We can sit around and wait for something else to happen, but then we might end up with more dead people. It doesn’t matter if I killed all those monsters if there’s another that’s going to pop out and kill more people. You got any better ideas?”
“None that fit the parameters of what you desire.”
“Then trust me. I know what I’m doing most of the time, and this is one of those times.”
“You should still exercise the utmost caution,” Jofi replied.
“I always do.”
“You sometimes do. You forget how much time I spend with you.”
“Sometimes life doesn’t leave me a choice.”
Lyssa chuckled. She needed to avoid the more obvious sorcery like her Dark Steps. Hospitals had good camera coverage. A woman, even one with darkness sorcery, could explain away stray shadows on the edge of a recording or making a brief appearance on a wall, but it was harder to dismiss black steps hanging in the middle of the air.
A mistake would lead to attention, and attention would lead to the media. Then the next thing she knew, she’d have to deal with Samuel chewing her out for making the Society look bad.
Lyssa approached the building and pressed her hand against a small shadow. She looked up and took note of the irregular spacing of the darker areas created by a combination of the lights inside and stray headlights from cars on a nearby street. It’d be less like scaling a wall and more like ascending an uneven rockface. She’d dealt with worse in the past.
After taking a deep breath, Lyssa scurried up past the first window. She was a ghost ready to haunt the hospital.
She didn’t waste time climbing to the third-floor window of Lucky Nardi’s room. He lay inside, his eyes half-closed. An IV ran into his arm. He was pale, with bandages on his arms and face. His TV was on, playing an episode of Sensual Sorceress.
“Huh,” Lyssa whispered. “I’ve already seen that episode. What I don’t get is how they managed to film another season of this. I have a hard time believing the guys buy into the act.”
“Is this the time to be discussing television?” Jofi asked.
“Just saying.”
Lyssa took a deep breath before starting her chant for a thinning spell. The only way she would make it into the room was by sliding through the closed window.
Knocking on the window risked startling Nardi and having him call a nurse before she could talk to him. She didn’t have a lot of time to wait around and try again. The culprit behind the incident might come after Nardi if he felt threatened.
Lyssa’s already-tenebrous form flattened and shrank until she became a mere suggestion of a human being. She slid through the bottom crack in the window into the room, passed across the floor, and stopped below the TV. The lights were dimmed but not off.
She released the spell, gasping for breath as she grew and resolidified to her macabre Torch form. Nardi’s eyes shot open, and he jerked upright. The plan wasn’t off to the best start.
Lyssa put a finger to the bottom of her mask and made a shushing sound. “I’m here to talk, Mr. Nardi,” she whispered. “Don’t worry.”
The sound came out eerie and scratchy, thanks to her regalia’s natural filter. The Night Goddess couldn’t sound cuddly or soothing even when she was trying.
“Hecate.” He swallowed. “You’re Hecate.”
“Yes.” Lyssa nodded. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
“Are you here to reap my soul?” Nardi asked, sounding serious. “Am I dead?”
Lyssa strained not to laugh. People misunderstanding sorcery or using terms she didn’t like was one thing, but she wasn’t a supernatural entity.
Taking a deep breath, she chalked it up to him being on painkillers. She needed to focus on getting the information to ensure no one else ended up in the hospital torn up by a monster.
“No. I’m here to help you by punishing whoever’s responsible for hurting you,” she said. “And you’re very much alive after being attacked by a venomous monster.”
Nardi looked confused. “That’s
right. A monster got me.”
Lyssa caught movement out of the corner of her eye. The door was already open. She hurried through a quick incantation and faded into her wraith-form right before a nurse stepped into the room. It was too close.
The nurse ignored the denser-than-usual shadows in the corner and hurried over to Nardi with a concerned expression. “Are you all right, Lucky? Your heart rate suddenly spiked.”
Lyssa grimaced. She hadn’t thought of that, though she didn’t spend a lot of time visiting people in hospitals versus putting people in them. Every new contract was a chance to learn how to be a better Torch in different situations.
Nardi shook his head. He was trying not to look toward the corner of the room containing Lyssa, but his gaze kept darting her way. “There was just a big surprise on the show I was watching. Sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
“Oh.” The nurse smiled. “Don’t scare me like that! Feel free to press the button if you need me. I’ll be here another three hours before shift change.”
“Sure thing,” Lucky said. “Hey, could you do me a favor and close the door? The light’s bothering me.”
“Of course.” She headed toward the door.
Lyssa waited until the nurse closed the door to step to the other side of the room and stand in front of the empty second bed. The position kept her away from the door and gave her time to disappear if someone else showed up. Satisfied with her repositioning, she dropped her wraith form.
Nardi’d had a chance to tell someone she was there and hadn’t. That was a good start.
“I’m surprised you didn’t say anything.” Lyssa inclined her head toward the door. “I get that I can be scary.”
“I figure it’s a dumb move to piss off a Sorceress,” Nardi replied, his voice straining. “Sorry. They’ve got me high as a kite right now. I didn’t even believe it was you at first. I thought I was hallucinating. Between the pain and drugs and nightmares, I can’t always tell what’s real. It’s weird.”
“I’m all too real. A nightmare.” Lyssa stepped toward the bed. “And I only need one thing from you to avenge you and Jake. You can sleep knowing Hecate, Torch of the Illuminated Society, will help you.”
“What do you need?” Nardi asked. He blinked several times but remained glassy-eyed. “I already told the cops everything I saw.”
Interrogating a drugged man could easily produce a false lead, but it also ensured his defenses were lowered. Damien had tried earlier, but getting the right information was often about asking the right question at the beginning.
“I need the truth.” Lyssa folded her arms. “I went to the mine. It was infested with a horde of those creatures, including a queen laying new eggs.”
Nardi swallowed. “The monster got Jake, pulled him away. I ran. There was nothing I could do. You have to believe me. I didn’t have a gun. I wouldn’t have run away if I had a gun.”
Lyssa shook her head. “You did the only thing you could. No one is blaming you. You would have died, too, if you’d tried to fight them.” She leaned closer. “Don’t worry. I destroyed those things. I killed the monster that hurt you and your friend. I destroyed it and all its friends.”
“Then what do you need from me?” Nardi blinked a couple of times as he tried to focus on Lyssa. “Isn’t it over?”
“There could be someone or something else behind this,” Lyssa replied. “You don’t need to worry about the details. You only need to understand those monsters were almost certainly put there by someone. Those kinds of things don’t just pop into existence.”
“It was put there by another one like you?” Nardi turned his head to look out the window.
“Yes, a rogue Sorcerer.” Lyssa shook her head. “Monsters are real, Mr. Nardi, but they aren’t natural, even in this new world. Someone used sorcery to make those things, and the Illuminated Society doesn’t tolerate that any more than your people do.” She curled a hand into a fist. “That rogue murdered your friend the same as if they put a gun to his head. When my kind does something they shouldn’t, people like me clean it up. That person needs to pay for your friend’s death, but I can’t make them pay if you don’t help me. And that starts with you being completely honest with me. I’m not here to accuse you of anything. You’re the victim. But I suspect you might know more than you’ve passed along.”
Tears leaked from Nardi’s eyes. “It’s my fault.”
“How?” Lyssa asked, trying to keep her tone neutral.
Nardi whined, “The email. This isn’t real. You’re not real. This is a dream. It has to be.”
“What email?” Lyssa struggled to keep her tone even. “If this is a dream, it doesn’t matter what you tell me. A figment of your imagination can’t hurt or blame you.”
“It’s a secret account I keep on the side,” Nardi replied. “It’s a throwaway thing for when I want to sign up on forums and sites without it being connected to my real address. I don’t pay much attention to it.” He moaned. “I should have ignored it. None of this would have happened if I’d ignored it.”
“I need to know about this email you received, Mr. Nardi,” Lyssa said. “I need you to focus and tell me all you ot know. Time is short, and I don’t want whoever did this to get away with it and hurt someone else, but I can’t do that without your help.” She took a deep breath. “You’re not just helping me. You’re helping Jake.” She considered what he’d said. “You told the EAA that this was about changing up the channel, but that’s not the whole truth, is it?”
Nardi blinked away his tears. “I got this email, and it talked about the show. I was freaked at first because I didn’t know how they figured out it was my address, but then I kind of got excited when I read the rest of it, even if it was weird. The message talked about how we were losing viewers, and he said he had a solution. He said we could make our show about haunted stuff. All that stuff I told that EAA guy was true. I was desperate. We have half as many subscribers as we did a year ago. Everyone says we’re stale and do the same things over and over.”
“Why would you listen to some random email?” Lyssa tried for a soothing tone, but the natural gravelly nature of her regalia voice made it come out menacing.
“I’d been telling Jake for a while,” Nardi replied. “I said we couldn’t do the same stuff anymore. People were getting sick of it, sick of us. The diehards wanted us to do crazier pranks, but I didn’t want to turn into an asshole. We started the channel to be fun. That’s what it was supposed to be, fun.”
“You didn’t answer my question.” Lyssa stepped away from the bed and minimized her shadowy aura. Spooking the man might spike his heart rate and get the nurse back. “I need to know why you listened to the email. What got your attention?”
Nardi rolled back to face her. His face contorted in pain. “Because it said we could find actual magic crap in the mine. I told Jake this was our chance. It didn’t matter if we couldn’t line up more stuff like that in the future. If we got there and showed actual magic on the channel, we could do way better than the wannabes. But he didn’t want to.” He shuddered. “He said it wouldn’t be fun. He wanted to do pranks and convince people we were magic, nothing real, but I convinced him to check it out. I told him I had a good feeling. I convinced him to go because of that stupid email.”
“Why didn’t you tell the EAA about this?” Lyssa asked. “Do you feel guilty?”
“You’re damned right I do.” Nardi closed his eyes. He grew quiet. “And I was scared. I didn’t expect anything like that to happen. I figured it’d be like a floating rock, and then the monster came. But after that, when I woke up here, I thought, ‘Damn it. What if it’s our fault? What if we played a prank on some Sorcerer, and he had it in for us? If I say something, he’ll finish me off.’”
“No, Mr. Nardi.” Lyssa shook her head. “Rogues aren’t allowed to operate freely. The Society will make him pay. I swear it. I am a Torch, and I’ll burn away the impurities of this world.” She growled, angrier now that she’d
verified they’d been sent there. “I need to know specifically what the email said. Or you can tell me the account and the password.”
“It doesn’t matter. I feel better, but you’re just a figment of my imagination. You have to be.” Nardi managed a weak smile before his head lolled to the side. “I wish this were all real. I wish you were more than just a dream.” His eyes closed. “Everything should be a dream. I’ll wake up, and Jake will still be alive.”
“Mr. Nardi? Lucky?”
He started snoring.
She walked toward the window, casting a glance at the wounded man. The incident hadn’t been an assassination attempt. A Sorcerer wouldn’t kill a shadow in such an elaborate way and risk exposure. They’d been lured to the mine for a reason.
Lyssa looked out the window. “I’m getting closer, you bastard.”
Chapter Seventeen
Lyssa didn’t wait to talk to Damien. The days were ticking by, and the threat of Halloween loomed heavy over the investigation. Her news was promising and increased the threat of a rogue.
She’d contacted Damien on her way back to Maricopa County and laid out the information she’d uncovered before asking him to check into the email using his resources. She agreed to come to the parking lot of the building at noon the following day. That wouldn’t bother anyone inside or raise unusual suspicion. It was a reasonable compromise.
When she rolled into the lot, it wasn’t hard to find Damien in the mass of nearly-identical-looking government sedans and SUVs mixed with personal vehicles of startling uniformity. Damien stood outside with his arms folded, leaning against his black car. It was yet another vehicle that looked like dozens of others in the lot.
With her bike still looking like a specter’s chopper, Lyssa drove right up to the EAA agent and pushed down her kickstand, ignoring the odd looks from people walking through the parking lot. At least they didn’t look as frightened as the people inside. After her visit the other day, everyone must have gotten used to the idea of visits by Hecate.