“Who am I to refuse the doctor’s orders?” I said.
Claudia laughed, once. “You seem like the type.” She looked at Caina, her amusement turning to coldness again. “I’ll send you the bill.”
“Thank you,” said Caina. “For coming out on such short notice.”
Claudia ignored her and looked at me. “Here’s some more advice.” She leveled a finger at Caina, still looking at me. “Stay away from her. She’s dangerous, and she’ll get you killed and not lose a minute of sleep over it.”
With that, Claudia turned and opened the door, and I recognized the basement hallway below the Ghost Securities headquarters. I heard the click of Claudia’s shoes against the concrete floor until the door swung shut.
“I don’t think she likes you very much,” I said.
“She doesn’t,” said Caina. She had been cool as ice during our fight with the specters and our escape from Sulzer’s undead, but now she looked rattled. No, that wasn’t quite it. She seemed haunted.
“What, did you make fun of her shoes?” I said.
“I got her brother killed,” said Caina, staring at the wall.
I thought of Russell and went cold.
“You see,” said Caina, “her brother and I were...quite close. Then he died saving my life and the lives of many other people. Claudia has never forgiven me for it. Nor should she.” Some of the reserve drained from her face, and she looked tired and sad.
I didn’t say anything. I thought about how I would feel if Russell died saving someone. I also thought about how I would feel if Riordan was killed saving my life. Because he had almost died many times to save my life. He had infiltrated the Rebels to help me, and if he had made a single mistake, Nicholas would have put a bullet into his head.
“I’m sorry,” I said at last. “If my husband was killed...I’m not sure how I would react, but a lot of people would die.”
“No, I’m sorry,” said Caina. “You saved my life, Nadia. Thank you. I should have realized those damned undead might figure out that we were following them. They don’t seem to perceive linear time, and...”
I shrugged. “I screwed up, too. I’ve dealt with undead before. And I underestimated Sulzer.”
“But I am sorry,” said Caina. “I should have seen it coming, I...”
“For God’s sake,” I said. “It wasn’t your fault. We both screwed up, and Sulzer got lucky.” I thought of the haunted look in her eyes as she spoke of Dr. Dorius’s brother. “I get the impression that you tend to blame yourself for more things than you’re really responsible for.”
Caina scowled, opened her mouth, closed it, and then sighed. It was fascinating to watch.
“People tell me that,” she said in a quiet voice. “Again and again.”
“Well, if it makes you feel better, thanks for looking after me,” I said. “And thanks for calling that doctor. That must have been hard since she hates your guts.”
“But she came nonetheless,” said Caina. “Claudia is a doctor before anything else.”
“She seems the bossy type,” I said, and Caina laughed. “Instead of trying to assign blame, we should figure out what to do next.”
“True. First, that Elven woman with Sulzer was an Archon,” said Caina. “I thought all the Archons died in the Mage Fall.”
“Never believe anything you see on the news,” I said. “Also, almost nearly all the Archons died in the Mage Fall, but only if they were on Kalvarion at the time. If there were any Archons on Earth, the Mage Fall wouldn’t have reached them. I bet that Archon woman was here for the battle of New York and hid out with Sulzer after Venomhold was destroyed.” I shook my head and stood up, pleased that I didn’t fall over. “What happened after I passed out?”
“I got you here,” said Caina, “and down to our infirmary. You didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger, so I took care of the cleanup from our...incident at the parking ramp. We didn’t show up on any of the security cameras and weren’t persons of interest in the investigation, but they did get the car’s license plate. Fortunately, it isn’t connected to the company at all, so there are no links here.”
“What about Sulzer?” I said.
Caina shook her head. “The cameras got his license plate, too, but the van isn’t connected to any of his companies. Homeland Security is investigating the incident as either an arson, a car accident, or an insurance fraud.”
I scowled. “Insurance fraud? Seriously?”
Caina shrugged. “You know what stock traders are like, and that ramp was full of expensive cars. Half the brokers in the Stock Exchange would set their own houses on fire if they thought they could cover it up and cash out.”
I took a step forward, winced at the feel of the cold, smooth concrete of the floor. “Where’d my shoes go?” Caina pointed to the side of the cot, and I slipped them back on. “Okay. Let’s think this through. You got the license plate of the van?”
“Yeah,” said Caina. “It’s registered to one of Sulzer’s companies, one that owns a couple of restaurants. I suppose if we manage to tie him to the time of the explosion, that might make Homeland Security take a closer look at him, but it won’t do any good. If they question him, he’ll say he saw an explosion and had no idea what the hell happened. Probably would try to sue the ramp’s owners in the process.”
“Sounds like him,” I said. “But he had come to the bank to get the book. We know he left with the book, which meant he needed it for something. Or that Archon needed it. No, wait. She didn’t use any necromancy during the fight, did she?”
“No,” said Caina. “Sulzer’s aura was necromantic, and he was the one controlling the undead. The Archon woman was using dark magic, but her aura didn’t have the necromantic taint.”
“They must be working together,” I said. “She had the book and didn’t want to use it. So, she gave it to Sulzer. The Archons thought that humans were just clever monkeys, and she wouldn’t care what the book and using necromancy would do to Sulzer. I bet Sulzer thinks he’s the one running the show, but the Archon is pulling the strings.”
“Makes sense,” said Caina. “We might have spooked them, though.”
“Yeah,” I said, “but they won the fight. We would have frightened them, but not enough for them to flee the city. They will take the book and keep it secure wherever Sulzer created his pet undead. Probably a warehouse or an empty apartment building or something he has leased through one of his fake companies.”
“But we don’t know where it is,” said Caina. “If we had been able to follow Sulzer, that would be one thing, but we had to get out of there before Homeland Security showed up.”
“And we weren’t any shape to win a fight against Sulzer,” I said. I snapped my fingers, looking around. “Shit, where’s my purse? I had pictures of the deeds on my phone. I didn’t have time to look at them all.”
“On the counter,” said Caina. She crossed to the counter and passed it to me. I opened my purse and pulled out my phone. To my dismay, there was a missed call from Riordan.
God, what was I going to tell him? I didn’t want to tell him that I had been shot, that I had nearly gotten killed. But while I was new to being married, I was pretty sure that keeping secrets from your spouse was probably a bad idea most of the time. Okay, I would tell him in person when he got back. Not over the phone. It wasn’t safe to talk about my job over the phone anyway.
I tapped out a quick text message, telling him that I was sorry I had missed his call and that I was all right. Which was technically true. I said that I loved him and wanted to see him soon, which was true without any technicalities whatsoever. Caina waited without complaint while I tapped out the message. No doubt she had deduced what I was doing.
“Okay,” I said, switching to the phone’s photo gallery app. “Let’s see what we have. I’m betting that one of these deeds is the place he’s been using to create undead creatures.”
We bent over the phone, and I started swiping over the pictures of the deeds. W
e passed all the ones in Spanish since I didn’t think we had frightened Sulzer enough for him to flee to Colombia. Instead, we focused on the ones for properties in Brooklyn. Two of them were for apartment buildings, which might work, but the third…
“Wait,” I said. “That address. Isn’t that...”
“That’s the Cattleman’s Pride,” said Caina.
We looked at each other.
“Goddamn,” I said. “That was it all along. That’s where he’s been using necromancy. Either in the upper floors or in the cellar or something. That’s why those specters came after me when I used magic in the club. Sulzer must have commanded them to keep watch over the club, to go after anyone who used magic nearby. That’s why they manifested and attacked.”
“It makes sense,” said Caina. “I should have seen it sooner. I thought one of Sulzer’s cronies owned the club. But if he owns it himself, no wonder he has all his meetings there.”
“Do you know what he uses the top two floors of the building for?” I said.
“Closed for renovations,” said Caina.
We looked at each other.
“Sounds like a euphemism,” I said. “We’ll have to check it out. Damned if I know how, though.” I paced in a circle, scowling. “If I use a Mask spell, it will draw the attention of the specters. I’m pretty sure ‘Marianna’ has gotten fired for missing work, so you can’t go back as a waitress. Two women of our age who just walk into a place like that are going to draw attention.” I came to a stop, trying to think. “I suppose I could Cloak outside and then go inside to look around, but that’s chancy.”
Caina nodded. “I have another idea.”
“Oh?” I said.
“Can you dress in such a way so that you look...” She waved her hand, searching for an appropriate euphemism. “Trashy.”
“Trashy?” I said. “Sure, that’s easy. I...” I stopped. “Wait. You don’t want to audition as dancers or something?”
“God, no,” said Caina. “I have a better idea. I’ll disguise myself as a male lawyer, and you’ll come as my date. Another couple coming to the Cattleman’s Pride won’t draw any attention, and we’ll be able to slip away from the crowd and look around upstairs.”
I stared at her. “But you don’t look anything like a man.”
“That’s where the art of disguise comes in.”
“You can really disguise yourself as a man?” I said. I could, and I had done so frequently. But I had the Masking spell. Caina didn’t.
“Oh, yes,” said Caina.
“What the hell,” I said. “This I’ve got to see.”
***
Chapter 8: Restricted Access
Caina gave me a denim jacket to hide my bloodstained blouse for the ride home, and I took a cab back to Riordan’s condo. Once I was back, I stripped off my clothes, took a long hot shower to clean away the blood and sweat of yesterday’s adventures, and then collapsed into that king-sized bed underneath a pile of blankets.
I slept for about nine hours. Turns out total exhaustion can overcome insomnia. And magic is tiring work. The regeneration spell even more so.
I woke up at about 6 PM, my throat dry and my eyes gritty. I dressed in gym clothes, did a quick 5k run on the treadmill to clear my head, and then made myself a smoothie with vanilla powder, peanut butter, dried fruit, and milk. I was so hungry that I wolfed it down, and I ate three protein bars after with only minimal nausea. I could usually eat smoothies and protein bars without any nausea since they didn’t remind me of my problems in the Eternity Crucible.
Just as exhaustion was a great way to defeat insomnia, ravenous hunger overcame my nausea. At least for a little bit. My stomach felt a little unsettled after the third protein bar, so I stopped eating and made myself a large cup of coffee.
And while I drank the coffee, I went to the bathroom and got ready.
Caina had asked for trashy, so I went for trashy.
I didn’t have much in the way of clothes here, but I did have a tight, low-cut red dress I had worn to dinner with Riordan one night, though I had matched it with a black sweater since I had been so cold. I donned that (sans sweater) and some high heeled shoes, and I put on too much mascara and a shade of lipstick that really didn’t work with the coloring of my skin. When I was done, I looked like the mistress of a wealthy man, the kind of foolish woman who was sure that her paramour was going to divorce his wife, marry her, and then devote himself to supporting her modeling career.
It was about 8 PM by the time I was done, so I left the condo, got a taxi, and headed to the House of Agabyzus. I was mildly surprised that there was still a good crowd at the coffee house, despite the late hour and the unpleasantly humid weather. There were even still people sitting on the terrace, maybe because it had a good view of the East River and the rest of the city beyond it. As the lights of the city came on, it was the sort of view that turned up in postcards and desktop wallpapers.
I seated myself at one of the outdoor tables and waited.
A few minutes later a man in an expensive suit sat across from me, smirking. He was wearing a black suit with a black shirt and a black tie, which made him look like a high-powered entertainment lawyer or maybe just an asshole with pretensions. He had slicked-back blond hair, brown eyes, and two days’ worth of blond stubble on his lean face.
“Hi,” he said, his voice a little rough. “You look lonely, sitting out here by yourself.”
I waved my left hand in front of me. “Married. Waiting for my husband.”
“I know for a fact that you are not.”
I blinked in astonishment. Caina’s voice had just come from the man in the black suit. Then I blinked several times, leaned closer, and…
Holy crap.
It was Caina. Now that I knew what to look for, I could recognize her, but just barely. When she said that she could disguise herself as a man, I had been dubious. Like me, her build was somewhat less than voluptuous, so I suppose she could conceal her figure in baggy clothes, but I had thought the net effect would look ridiculous.
“Okay,” I said. “This never happens, but I’m actually really impressed. Don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t look like a woman at all.”
“Thank you,” said Caina. “That was rather the point.”
“How did you do that?” I said. “You’re not using a Masking spell, are you?”
“Nope,” said Caina. She gestured at herself. “Good tailoring, appropriate posture, accent, wig, contact lenses, and some makeup for the stubble. That’s all it is. People see what they expect to see.” She grimaced and adjusted the lapel of her jacket. “Also, some very unpleasant undergarments to keep things bound in. I suppose this is the one time it's fortunate that there isn't all that much to keep bound in.”
“It works,” I said. “If I hadn’t met you already, I never would have guessed you were actually a woman. Seriously, I was thinking about how I was going to scare you off if you kept hitting on me.”
“Then I’m glad I told you who I really was,” said Caina. “You look...”
I grinned, stood up, and did a little twirl. “Trashy?”
“I was going to say you look exactly like the sort of woman who would patronize a place like the Cattleman’s Pride on the arm of a sleazy lawyer,” said Caina, “but I suppose we’re saying the exact same thing, then.” She stood up. “I’m parked a few blocks away. Shall we?”
I nodded and got to my feet, and we walked to the car. Caina even walked like a man. I wondered who had taught her all the tricks of disguise, and then decided that I was glad I could fall back on the Masking spell. Caina had come in a different car, and we got in and headed for the parking ramp near the Cattleman’s Pride.
###
“Anything?” murmured Nadia.
“Not yet,” said Caina with a shake of her head.
They stood in line outside the Cattleman’s Pride, the faint noise of music coming from the closed steel door. It was about ten minutes after 9 PM, and already a long cr
owd of people stretched from the club’s steel door. Even without his dishonest activities, Caina supposed, Sulzer had to be making money hand over fist at this place.
She was moderately uncomfortable in her clothes and makeup, but kept it from her expression, instead keeping an amused, contemptuous smile on her face as she rested a possessive arm around Nadia’s waist. Nadia, for her part, seemed chilly, a shiver going through her bare arms from time to time. She did an admirable job of presenting herself as a woman with more looks than brains.
“I don’t feel anything,” said Nadia. “But you’re probably better at seeing auras at range. Unless something is really powerful, I have to be right on top of it to sense anything.”
The line moved, and Caina and Nadia stood before the bouncers. Their hard eyes flicked over Caina and ignored her, but rested for much longer on Nadia. She smirked back at them. Caina was pleased that neither man recognized her. When she had been disguised as the waitress Marianna, both men had spoken with her on a regular basis.
“What do you say, gentlemen?” said Caina in her disguised voice, brandishing six neatly folded twenty dollar bills. “You’re not going to make my girl stand outside all night, are you?”
One of the bouncers grunted. “Maybe we’ll let her in, and you can wait outside.”
“Oh,” said Nadia. To Caina’s surprise, she actually pouted. “You’re not going to make me go in alone, are you? I’ll have to buy my own drinks.”
The bouncer snorted. “Doubt that.” He took Caina’s money and passed two of the twenties to the other bouncer. “Go in.”
“You gentlemen have a fine evening,” said Caina with a wide smile, and she opened the door and held it open for Nadia.
Cloak & Ghost: Blood Ring Page 10