Changeling Justice

by Frank Hurt

  “Troubling, indubitably.” Barnaby stroked his mutton chops with transparent fingers. “How do you expect to combat this, if you are indeed the lone living Inquisitor?”

  “With the help of a Grand Inquisitor.” Ember focused her gaze on the glowing eye sockets of the ghost. “Tell me everything you know about lifting a Deference Spell.”

  Barnaby’s face remained placid, but his gritty voice reverberated in her head. “Other than by the one who cast it, a Deference Spell can only be temporarily lifted.”

  “Okay, so a temporary lift. How long are we talking, days, weeks?”

  “Seconds. Depending on the intensity of the spell and the strength of the Inquisitor, perhaps ten to fifteen seconds.”

  Ember felt her hopes sink. Her eyes began to sting with weary tears. She blinked them away and suppressed a sniffle. “Ten seconds. What is the use of lifting a spell for ten seconds.”

  “Admittedly, limited.” Barnaby canted his head, the visor of his beaver skin hat hiding his eyes. When he raised his chin, the glowing eye sockets were fixed on Ember. “Unless you know how to use those seconds.”

  Ember contemplated before answering. “It’s enough time for one question, and one answer.”

  “The girl guesses correctly.”

  “Will you teach me this, please? Teach me how to lift a Deference Spell, even temporarily?”

  “I will.” Barnaby stopped touching his face. “But know that if you attempt to counter a Deference Spell, it will be at great cost to you. You will be drained of mana, and perhaps worse. If the one who set the spell is strong, you may become immobilized.”

  Barnaby was remarkably patient in explaining the timing and actions needed to temporarily lift the spell. He explained how the use of a charged Leystone could be leveraged to increase the duration of the temporary lift, though only by seconds.

  Ember practiced the gestures as her ghostly coach instructed. He was strict but Ember caught on quickly.

  Midway through the tenth practice run, Barnaby stopped and extended his finger into the night beyond them. “We’re not alone, girl. Behind you, a changeling lurks. It has been watching us.”

  22

  Find Your Own Way Back

  Ember thought she had been careful, thought she had taken the proper precautions. But somehow, one of the changeling spies managed to track her. She silently cursed her sloppiness.

  “It is hiding behind that tree!” Barnaby’s transparent finger pointed.

  Reflexively, she called upon her mana, pulling it from her core and sending it down her arm, to her right fist as she spun around on her heel. The silhouette of an imposing man emerged from behind a mature maple tree, just as Ember moved her arm forward. She opened her fist, releasing a charge of bright orange light that only she could see.

  The containment net widened as it shot toward the changeling. It connected with the man with such force, it knocked him to the ground. The man fell with a thud and began to struggle. The more he fought, the tighter the containment net shrunk. Soon his movements were restricted and futile.

  Ember breathed in deeply, filling her lungs with the scent of cool morning dew. Though feeling triumphant, she approached her quarry warily.

  Though the containment net prevented him from doing so, the changeling snarled and attempted to transform into his animal form. Ember’s sense of accomplishment quickly faded when she blinked and saw what she had captured. The subform was a coyote. Not just any coyote.

  She rushed to her prey, who continued to struggle and snarl. As she knelt and placed her hands on the strands of the golden net, Barnaby recognized what she was about to do.

  “Do not release him!” The ghost effortlessly strode to her side. “At least interrogate him first. Can you not see he is trying to shift?”

  “He’s a friend.” Ember glanced up at Barnaby before she returned her focus to the struggling man. “His name is Rik.” She tucked her fingers into the strands of the glowing net and whispered, “Dissolve.”

  Tension fell slack in the containment net. The golden strands dissolved away within seconds.

  Alarik struggled to his feet, his teeth back as he snarled.

  A terrible thought teased at her consciousness: she feared that Alarik was going to shift into coyote form and lunge at her with his sharp teeth. Ember clambered to her feet and took a step back. “Easy. Easy. You’re alright. You’re safe.” She wasn’t sure which side she was speaking to: human or beast.

  The man relaxed only slightly. His voice emerged as a low growl. “Why’d you attack me?”

  “Attack you?” Ember crossed her arms. “How about I ask: why were you sneaking up on me? You were supposed to wait in the pickup.”

  “You’ve been out here for two hours. I was getting worried about you.” He growled again. “I heard you talking to someone, but there’s nobody else here. What kind of bullshit games are you playing?”

  “It’s not bullshit, Rik. I can’t expect you to understand.”

  “No, how could I, when you continue lying to me.” Alarik brushed grass off his blue jeans and started marching toward the road. “I’m leaving. You can find your own way back.”

  Ember glanced at Barnaby, who said nothing. She chased after Alarik, catching up with him just as he started his pickup. She opened the passenger door and managed to pull herself up into the cab as the Super Duty started to move. “You were seriously going to leave me here?” Her voice was shriller than she intended it.

  “Why have you been making me drive you out here?” He growled at her as his foot stomped the accelerator pedal. The beefy Ford responded with squealing tires until tread found traction on the damp asphalt. “You’re just out here practicing tai chi or some bullshit. There’s no secret contact at all, is there. It’s all just a lie.”

  “There is a contact. You just can’t see him.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure there is. You won’t show him to me because I’m just a dumb changeling. I’m just a sucker for trusting a mage. For trusting you. You don’t really want to help us. You’re just another in a long line of liars.”

  She returned his glare. She wished she would have had the maturity, the presence of mind to keep her mouth shut until his temper cooled down. Until hers cooled down. Instead, she blurted out, “Go ahead and act all high and mighty, Rik. We both know the real reason you’re helping me isn’t for your brother. It’s for you and your guilt.”

  Ember immediately regretted her words, even as they spilled out of her mouth. For a moment, she thought that she had imagined those words and not given them voice. She wished for that to be so.

  Alarik said nothing, as the miles melted behind them. The earliest rays of eastern sunlight chased the Ford into the Magic City. Before them, dark cumulonimbus clouds drifted from the west in the morning breeze. Sporadic lightning silently punctuated a lavender sky as sprinkles of rain arrived, beading and then streaming up the windshield.

  As the vehicle found its way into downtown Minot, Ember finally found the courage to speak. “I’m sorry, Rik. I’m tired and under a lot of pressure, but that’s no excuse. I should never have said that. Will you forgive me?”

  He wouldn’t even look at her. Even when he stopped in front of St. Leo’s Church, he said nothing. The clouds opened and rain was falling heavily in sheets around them.

  She persisted. “Rik—”

  “Get. Out.” The man and his coyote subform both growled the syllables.

  If he would have punched her, it wouldn’t have hurt as much as the way he said those words. There was a finality to them.

  Ember slid out of the tall pickup and onto the curb. Before she swung the passenger door shut, she stole one more look at his stubbled face, his mop of unkempt hair. He never even glanced at her.

  She stood on the sidewalk while the cold dawn rain washed over her. As the taillights of Alarik’s Ford disappeared down the street, she recalled Barnaby’s words with a shiver. An Inquisitor’s life is a solo existence.

  23
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br />   Tastes Like Copper

  Time moves more slowly when you’re suffering.

  At least, that was the conclusion Ember reached in the days following the stormy argument with Alarik. She knew that she had begun to develop feelings for the man, but judging from her reaction to the way that they parted, those feelings were deeper than she had acknowledged.

  She felt hollow, somehow. Wallace detected something to that end when they talked later Saturday to report what she had learned from Barnaby. She told her former partner about the fact that the Deference Spell could be lifted only with heroic effort—and even then, only for a few seconds.

  “Then this will be of limited help to us.” Wallace sighed. Then, his tone shifted. “You sound weary, Ember.”

  “I’m fine,” she lied. “I’m just tired and disappointed that this might be a dead end. Lifting the Deference Spells could’ve been useful in recruiting the Investigators to our side.”

  “That would have been ideal.” The Legend sighed again. “We must be patient. You might lay low while we figure out our next move. Do nothing to arouse suspicion.”

  She spent the rest of the weekend locked up in her apartment, trying to ignore the gloomy mood she found herself in. She thought about calling in sick to work on Monday, but decided that the distraction might help.

  Around noon on Thursday, Ember overheard the other Investigators in the office leave for lunch together. Dennis was in the break room, consuming a sub sandwich and soft drink. On a whim, she walked past the Senior Investigator’s office.

  Duncan wasn’t in, but his office door was open, and the light was off. Ember glanced around and saw no movement down either hall. Impulsively, she stepped into the darkened office.

  The computer monitor on Duncan’s desk glowed brightly, betraying the fact that he was still logged into his system. He hasn’t left work, then. He would be returning any minute.

  Two inner voices lobbied for her attention: Caution screamed at her to leave before she was caught, while the other one said, “Just a little look won’t hurt.” Curiosity won the argument.

  Ember approached the desk as she scrambled to think of what she would do with this opportunity. I could access the entirety of the Mandaree Incident files. But then what? Send them to the printer? Email them to myself? Both could be bloody tracked.

  She hesitated as an alarming possibility announced itself. What if the simple act of pulling a query on this case gets automatically flagged?

  Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, ready to type. She looked away from the monitor, her gaze scanning Duncan’s desk. Illuminated by the computer screen, she noticed a stack of envelopes. She picked them up and fanned them as she read: Montana-Dakota Utilities, SRT Communications, Midcontinent, City of Minot.

  Bills. They’re just his personal bills. Almost as an afterthought, she mentally noted his street address, committing it to memory.

  Footsteps sounded off in the hallway. Someone was coming.

  Ember thrust the stack of stuffed envelopes back where she had found them, then rushed out the office door. Her mind raced with excuses. Oh, Duncan, what a coincidence; I was just coming to see you.

  Instead, as she rounded the corner, she ran into a mountain—a bearded mountain.

  “What the—” Dennis started to speak.

  Thinking quickly, Ember allowed momentum to carry her. She collided with the man, knocking the tall fountain soda from his hand. Dark amber fluid flew from the paper cup to splatter against the cream-colored wall.

  She captured the moment. “Dammit, Smiley!” Ember scolded. “Can’t you watch where you’re going?”

  “I…what were you—”

  “Don’t you try turning this on me, mister.” She pointed at the cola, which dripped in sticky rivulets down the wall. “Look at the mess you’ve made! What do you think Duncan will say when he gets back in and sees that you’ve made a feast for ants in front of his office door? This is exactly how you get ants, you know.”

  “Well, I—”

  “The longer you stand there, bumbling, the more this stuff is going to dry. Have you ever tried cleaning dried Coca-Cola from painted plaster? I mean, really.”

  “It’s Dr. Pepper.” Dennis stammered. “Um, I’ll go get some paper towels.”

  “Right. That’s a good place to start.” Ember watched the changeling run down the hall and into the break room. As satisfying as it was to make the burly security staffer nervous, she knew she had just dodged a bullet. She let out a long sigh, then quickly found a route to her office. What was it Wallace said? “Do nothing to arouse suspicion.” Yeah, brilliant, Ember.

  The corded landline phone on her desk was ringing when she returned to the supply closet. Ember picked up the receiver and was met with a flow of syllables, as though the person calling her was already mid-conversation.

  “Don’t you just hate it when everyone leaves but they don’t tell you? I thought maybe you had gone to lunch with everyone else. Well, Mr. Heywood had gone upstairs, but it’s still lunchtime. I should be taking my lunch, too, but then there would be nobody at the front desk if someone called. It’s a good thing, too, because people do call.”

  “Hello, Joy. What do you need?”

  “How did you guess it was me? Oh, right, my accent probably. I should tell you that I’ve been practicing my English accent. I’m gonna whip it out sometime and you’ll be all like, ‘oy! Who’s the new lassie from jolly ol’ England, workin’ the phones?’ Then I’ll change back to my regular voice and say, ‘It’s me, Joy! I had you fooled!’”

  Ember pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut. “Joy, was there a reason you called me?”

  “Oh, right! I’d almost forgotten. Let’s see, Ami from downstairs called. I don’t know which Ami, mind you, ‘cause once you’ve met one Ami you’ve met them all.” Joy giggled. “But yup, Ami called. She said someone was here to see you. They are waiting in the lobby, on account that they don’t have the security clearance to come upstairs. Come to think of it, she didn’t say who was waiting. Should I call down and ask?”

  “Thanks, Joy. I’ll head down there now.” She hung up the phone, even as she heard Joy continue talking. Ember grabbed her purse and her satchel, then made her way to the elevator. Joy was on the phone when Ember walked past. They smiled and waved at each other.

  She hoped it might have been Alarik coming to see her. A scenario of mutual apologies played in her head, followed by an awkward but manageable return to how things were before Saturday morning’s fallout.

  Instead, waiting for her in the lobby was a tall, curvy changeling woman with dark blonde hair midway down her back. “Hi, Ember. I thought maybe I could take you out to lunch?”

  Ember nodded, “Hello Anna. I’m…not really very hungry.”

  “Okay, then how about we go for a walk in the park?”

  The Malvern woman thought about using work as an excuse. She was feeling ashamed for how she had treated Alarik, and the prospect of talking about it with the man’s sister seemed too uncomfortable to endure.

  “Come on, let’s go.” Anna’s gaze flitted to the door a moment before her head turned in the same direction. She wasn’t giving Ember a chance to bow out. “I’m parked in a loading zone.”

  Anna drove them to Roosevelt Park—the verdant acreage near Ember’s apartment building. She jogged the park multiple times in the mornings since arriving in the Magic City. Today, the park was filled with young families, clustered around booths in the open fields. The saccharin caramel scent of hot kettle corn wafted from one of the vendors, mingling in the air with children’s laughter. A small stage was set up, from which a polka band played enthusiastically to a crowd of older people.

  “It’s a Scandinavian heritage Arts in the Park event,” Anna explained. “Nothing like the Norsk Hostfest later in the year, of course. Let’s stick to the paths away from the crowds so we can visit.”

  “A hoost-fest?” Ember raised her eyebrows as she pronounced the
strange word. “Do I even want to know what that is?”

  The broad-shouldered woman noticed a twig on the ground and picked it up. She studied it for a moment as they walked. “People know how to party in Minot. We’ve got the State Fair in July, the Hostfest in September. It’s a big ethnic festival. It’s an excuse to eat too much, drink too much, and listen to loud music.”

  “Well I…I’m eager to discover this…hoost-fest.”

  “So, you’ll be here then, through the summer?” Anna pulled a jackknife from her pocket and unfolded it. She began whittling the bark from the twig in her hand. She glanced at Ember as they both made room for a mother and daughter riding bicycles on the path. “I wasn’t sure how long you would be in North Dakota. I thought maybe with things turning sour between you and Rik, that you might be tempted to call it quits.”

  “I still have a job to do. I promised your family I would help.” Ember chewed on her lower lip. “What did Rik tell you?”

  “He didn’t tell me anything. I know my brother, though.” Anna’s head turned to watch Ember as she talked. “I know that he thinks the world of you. Not just for what you’re doing for the family, either. I can tell that he respects you, Ember.”

  Ember chuckled weakly. “Probably not so much anymore.”

  “I don’t know what happened between you and him.” Anna held her palms up and to her sides, the knife safely between her thumb and forefinger along with the partially-whittled stick. “I just know that he’s been a big gloom-ball since this weekend. He won’t tell anyone anything, other than that he isn’t going to be bringing you around again.”

  Ember felt her heart sink. “He said that?”

  “He did. But you should know that my brother is a bit of a block-head when it comes to women. He’s the sweetest man, and I love him of course, but he has a tendency of putting his foot in his mouth. Whatever he said, I hope you will forgive him.”