by Ben Zackheim
“Or if you revealed anything at all, actually,” Ronin said, impressed with the tightly-run security. “He almost got pulled off the assignment six times.”
“They took pity on me because we’re old friends.”
“She’s alive?” I managed to ask.
Ronin rolled her eyes. “That’s what I said, genius. Your headshot took a small chunk out of her skull.”
“Where is she?” I asked Lucas. I knew it would be better if I engaged with the demon as much as possible. The less interaction with Ronin, the better for all of us.
Lucas glanced up at Ronin, measuring the risk of answering me. He cleared his throat. “We don’t know.”
I clenched my teeth to stop myself from yelling. “You did not just say what I think you said.”
Lucas stepped in between me and Ronin. “We got a generator running at a Tokyo hospital and stabilized her. But there weren’t enough guards. We didn’t have many people left in Japan.”
I cut in. “So someone kidnapped her. Who?”
Lucas sighed. “Merlin. He left one guard alive so he could send us a message.”
“What’s the message?”
“He said, ‘Give me the spear.’”
“Shit,” I said. The dream. It was a message. But was it a message from Odin or Merlin?
“What’s wrong?” Lucas asked.
“Nothing. Did Merlin give us any terms for her release?”
“Not a word.”
“Okay, then how do we get her back?”
“We go to Montfort-l’Amaury and you follow my orders,” Ronin said. “If I tell you to jump, you ask how high. If I tell you to shoot Lucas, you ask me which part of his body.”
“You’ve really mellowed out, Ronin,” I said. “I’m proud of you.” I snagged one of the stones next to my bed and offered it to her. “Could you shove this up your ass and make a gem? It would be a nice gift for Rebel when we save her.”
If demons could gasp, Lucas would have gasped. Instead, his eyes widened and he took a step back.
Ronin pulled the Ruger and had it in my face within .06 seconds.
Good draw.
So my joke didn’t go over very well.
“All right, all right!” I said, hands up. It was time to change the subject. “How are we getting there, boss?”
She lowered the weapon, but I noticed she didn’t holster it. “How do you think, genius?”
“Ah, okay. You should know that my Swap Portal hasn’t been working too well recently.”
“Then you’ll have to fix it, I guess,” she said as she holstered the weapon and, once again, forgot to secure it. “Now try to stand up.”
I was in better shape than they thought, but that didn’t mean I was strong. That didn’t mean my muscles were supple and warm.
My moan of relief was a little too intense for Ronin. She made a face at me as if I’d just taken a dump in front of her.
“That’s the sound of a man feeling pleasure,” I said, as I struggled to sit up.
“You’re going to make me regret this, aren’t you?”
“I sure hope so. What are we looking for in Montfort-l’Amaury?”
“I’ll tell you when we get there.”
I stretched my arms in the air and reveled in the feeling. “Last time we were there, we ran into some demons. They were hiding vamp bodies in a basement.”
“What did you just say?”
“I said that the demons in the village were shacked up in some gutted building. They were sitting on a load of vampire bodies, and…”
“Was there a big one there?” she asked me.
“Yeah, I was there, so…”
She looked at me, not comprehending the joke for a good four seconds. “A big demon, you fucking idiot!”
“Yeah, I meant to research it when I found the free time. But there hasn’t been much of that with the apocalypse and all. You know what kind of demon it was?”
“If you’re telling me the truth…”
“Our partnership is starting nicely.”
“If you’re telling the truth,” she repeated, locking her eyes on mine, “Then it could be Stolas. He’s a powerful demon of magic. But I haven’t seen him there since I was a girl.”
“You haven’t seen him where?” I asked. “In Montfort-l’Amaury?” Ronin suddenly looked confused. I dove into the awkward moment, metaphorical guns blazing. “You’re telling me you were in Montfort-l’Amaury as a girl?”
Her confusion switched to glee.
Ronin’s glee meant my pain.
She laughed. It was a joyful thing, filled with mirth and righteous condescension. And it was filled with secrets. Likely, secrets I wanted to learn.
I didn’t ask her what was so funny. I hoped to gain the upper hand by pretending I didn’t care.
It worked.
She dabbed at a tear on the corner of her eye. “So you’re telling me she didn’t even tell you that much?”
“Who? Rebel?”
She chuckled and nodded and caught her breath with a deep inhale. “I just find it a little funny that you were partners for years…”
“We are partners. Present tense.”
“I hate to tell this, but Rebel isn’t big on hanging out with people who try to kill her.”
“It sounds like you know this from experience.”
That got her. I’d struck a nerve. I waited for the comeback.
“We grew up in Montfort-l’Amaury, Arkwright,” she said.
Chapter 9
Her face went hard, as if the memory of her upbringing sent lava through her veins. “It’s our hometown.”
“You were raised in the epicenter of demon activity? That explains a lot, actually.”
She ignored my dig. “Born and raised. Rebel too. I cannot believe she never told you this. That is hilarious. My parents also grew up there. My grandparents, too. Not a lot of movement in our family. At least until Rebel and I came along. But I guess you didn’t know any of this.”
“Don’t get cocky, lady. I know enough about your upbringing. Don’t make me use it against you.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s a fact. Don’t make me turn it into a threat.”
She lifted her nose up, looking down at me. She was reading my poker face, trying to see if I was lying.
“Prove it,” she said.
She read me wrong.
“You wanted to be a fighter. You wanted to be an agent. You had no interest in running things but your parents had it all figured out. Then one night at dinner…”
“That’s enough,” she said. I’m not an aura reader, but her presence in the room started to shake. Her mood darkened. My knowledge of her roots didn’t just surprise her. It had sent her back in time. She was reliving emotions she’d clearly spent years stuffing away.
So, yeah, I stopped. I’m an asshole, not a, you know, asshole.
Ronin made two fists. Both of them had my name on every knuckle. Her injured hand dripped blood on the floor. That added a certain menace to the moment. “So my sister told you all about me, and not a thing about herself. Typical Rebel.”
“Look,” I said, trying to depressurize the room before I had a real exit wound in the back of my head. “Let’s just put aside the fact that we don’t like each other, and focus on the plan. Sound good?”
Lucas nodded nervously, his lips pressed together. His eyes slid to Ronin. She looked between the two of us. When she sat down in a chair near the door, the demon and I started breathing again.
“We need to get the scroll pieces first,” Ronin muttered through a very clenched throat. She was doing a damn good job keeping it together. I vowed to be a good person and lay off of her for a good five, ten minutes.
If I possibly could.
She leaned forward in her chair and pulled a pant leg up, revealing a second Ruger. She tossed it to me. I swallowed the urge to tell her to be careful. She might not have appreciated my effort to be polite, but Lucas gave me a thankf
ul smirk.
“Where are the scroll pieces?” I asked, switching on the safety and slipping the pistol into my belt nice and snug.
“They’re under guard. In a room just off the facilities hall.”
I’d designed the place, so I knew just the room she meant. I knew the layout, the ducts, the plumbing. In my mind’s eye I ran through all the possible paths into that room and was bummed to realize I’d made it really fucking secure. It wasn’t by design. The space was supposed to be a supply closet. But as a safe, it was formidable.
“You look like you swallowed a troll nut,” Ronin said. “Talk to us.”
“The doors are made of the same steel the rest of the doors are made of down here, so there’s no blasting it open. I assume you have the keys.”
“We don’t. The guards don’t have the keys either. Their boss does, though.”
“Who’s their boss?” I asked, but I knew the answer the moment Lucas and Ronin nervously glanced at each other. “Lancelot,” I answered for them. “Shit.”
Lucas tried to lighten the mood a bit. “The good news is that he keeps the keys in a safe in his office. He’s doing rounds with a troop on the streets for the next few hours, so we have a wide window.”
It was good to hear, but I wasn’t buying the sunny scenario. As usual, it was my job to expect the worst. It just so happens that was also my default stance on just about everything. “So we have to get the key from the most dangerous guy in Paris,” I said. “Then we have to sneak down a long hall where anyone can see us coming from 20 yards away, snag the scroll pieces from a broom closet, and get out of here. All three of us.”
“That just about wraps it up, yeah.”
“Okay, then can I ask a question?”
Ronin jerked her head back in mock surprise. “Look at you. So polite all of a sudden. Sure. You can ask a question if it’s not a dick question.”
“Okay, I’m not going to touch that softball of a set-up.”
“Mature of you, sir,” Lucas interjected.
“My question is, why do we need the scroll pieces? Is it worth risking Rebel’s life? Because if we don’t make it out of here…”
“Oh no, no, no, sir,” Lucas said, wagging his finger. “We need the scroll pieces.”
“Why? Because I can just swap us out right now,” I continued, trying to make a persuasive argument. I had no doubt the Swap Portal would give me trouble, but I’d deal with that when it happened.
“We need the scroll pieces,” Ronin repeated.
“Again. Why do we need them? And don’t look at each other like that. We’re either in this together, or we’re not. I can just crawl back into bed and let you two take the blame for trying to spring me.”
I had zero intention of doing that. They both chuckled, so they knew as much. Once again, it was Lucas who showed some mercy.
“We need the scroll pieces because they have a message.”
“I thought so. What kind of message, demon?”
“I haven’t been allowed to see them put together. So we don’t know yet. But we do know it’s the kind of message that is only safe in your vault, sir.”
“I’m just a receptacle to you. Is that it?” I asked.
“Excuse me?” Lucas asked, stepping back.
“That’s all I am to you. A walking, talking hole for your old, crusty relic.”
“Sir! Why would you…”
“Zip it, Dagger Beak,” Ronin growled. “He thinks he’s being funny.”
Lucas blabbered out, “But I…”
“She’s right,” I said, smiling. “I’m just being an asshole. Sorry, Lucas.”
Lucas frowned at Ronin. “Did you just call me Dagger Beak?”
Ronin swatted the end of the demon’s nose and followed its swaying motion with her finger. Left, right, left, right, left, and almost a full right before it wiggled back to center.
“Now see here, Commander!” my librarian said a little too loudly.
I stepped between them. “Be nice, Ronin.”
She held her hands up in mock surrender. “It was a joke!”
“Enough,” I whisper-yelled. I didn’t know where in the complex we were hiding, but I didn’t want anyone to hear us bickering. “We’ll all behave, right? We’ll get the scroll pieces from the ultra-secure broom closet and swap out of here without anyone knowing. Right?”
The two of them glared at each other and nodded once.
“Good.” I checked my new weapon. It was a nice piece. Well-maintained. Loaded.
Ronin made for the door. I knew every moment wasted was a moment where Rebel could bite it. Or turn on me. Or be used by Merlin against us. But I also knew that Ronin and I wouldn’t have many chances to chit-chat. And I needed to know more.
“Wait. Hold on a minute, you two.”
“What’s wrong?” Lucas asked.
“Nothing’s wrong. Ronin, your sister also told me about your family’s involvement with Spirit.”
“You mean the fact that my ancestors founded it?”
I noticed that Lucas didn’t flinch at this information. He noticed me frown at him and pretended to be surprised. But it was too late.
“Wait a second, Lucas. You knew Rebel’s family started the international organization responsible for keeping the peace between humans and supernaturals? And you never thought to tell me, demon?”
Lucas let out a few dozen noises that were close estimations of the English language but fell short by several letters per word. It was an impressive display of blubbering. Unmatched in all my days.
I cut him off with a raised palm. “We’ll discuss it later, demon. Ronin…”
“Kane,” she said, stepping on my words.
“What’s the connection between your family, the village of Montfort-l’Amaury, and Spirit?”
Chapter 10
Ronin looked at me differently.
All of a sudden the judgmental, often cold, always unnerving stare did a kind of slide into softness. She didn’t seem surprised. She seemed more like Rebel.
Then she laughed.
Now that was the Ronin I knew and despised.
The distant, fake chuckle settled down, and she somehow found a way to speak through the thick melodrama of her own making. “What’s the connection, Kane? Really? Do you have, oh, I don’t know, a few years to go through the connections?” She said the last word with disdain, as if the very question was absurd.
She did a good job of making me feel like the class dunce.
And, for the third time, Lucas stepped in to be the more human of the two.
“The Battle of Wolves ended the Demon War in Montfort-l’Amaury. It was a confounding defeat because us demons were doing quite well against humanity and looked to be on the verge of becoming the most successful supernatural species since the vampires entered their slumber.”
“Slumber,” Ronin said, smiling. “He’s so cute. Where did you get him, Kane?”
The glare she got from my librarian was familiar to me. It meant my old friend had decided he was out of fucks with her. He didn’t like her. There was no coming back, no resolution, no reconciliation possible.
“As I was saying, the demons appeared to retreat to Montfort-l’Amaury for tactical reasons that historians are still debating. What they don’t know, and what they don’t know by design, is that the demons were led there.”
“By who? What has the power to summon the demonic race all at once?”
“My great-great-great grandfather,” Ronin said, filled with the undeserved self-importance that only a distant descendant of greatness could exude.
“Her family is possibly the last line of humanity’s original Magicists. Some date their lineage back 5000 years to the deserts of what is now Iran.”
“You’re talking about the Adalgard family.”
“That’s us,” Ronin said.
“They go under a different name, of course, for security reasons. The story goes that an Adalgard had the first mortal encounter with a god an
d…”
“And she showed him such a good time that the god opened her eyes to the magical world. I know the story. Rebel and I learned it together from Skyler in training.”
Ronin smirked. “Oh, she knew the story long before that, Arkwright. It’s family history.”
I held my tongue and focused my attention on the librarian.
Lucas continued. “The husband forgave his wife’s wanderings and leveraged her guilt to learn more about her newfound magic. The family used their knowledge to influence generations of humans.”
I continued for him, proud of my memory serving me well. “When the supernatural beings of the world were exposed, they came out of hiding and found themselves at a disadvantage. Humans had made the world in their own vision and that did not include Supers. But the legend is that the Adalgard family has always been there, pulling strings and making sure humans kept the upper hand. Like some kind of Illuminati or something.”
“Exactly like Illuminati,” Ronin threw in. We both glanced at her. She smiled. “Made for some interesting dinner guests on school nights.”
“But they lost their influence during the plague. Some people say they were wiped out.”
“Not completely,” Ronin said. “A brother and sister survived.”
I shivered. I knew how this story would go. “Of course they did,” I mumbled. “Have to keep the old blood line going, no matter how stomach-churning it gets.”
“The Magicists grew in power with Sarula and Jonathan in charge,” Lucas said, sounding like a college professor schooling his student. “The bloodline did grow stronger, sir.”
“Yeah, I don’t think there are any lessons to take away from that, Lucas, but thanks for keeping the topic open. The official line is that Spirit formed after the Battle of Wolves. So you’re saying the org is older than that.”
Lucas nodded. “Some form of organized defense has existed since the dawn of humanity. But the most current incarnation of Spirit started 500 years ago, as the black plague lifted and communication between the countries opened up.”