Outrun

by Annabel Chase

  “Can I see the notebook?” I asked.

  Declan pulled it from his coat pocket and handed it to me, opening to the most recent entries. Each one was dated and the handwriting was neat and precise. “I can see why Polly wanted to see her mother for help. The woman is meticulous.”

  I observed Margaret. What must it have been like for her to lose a daughter to vampirism and then to this sudden illness? And to succumb to it herself? I already knew life was unfair, but moments like this were strong reminders. Neither woman had asked for these circumstances and yet…

  “Are you all right?” Declan asked gently.

  I met his concerned gaze. “Sometimes I worry that I’m too soft for this job. That I lack the strength or the toughness. Bryn wouldn’t waste time standing here, close to tears. She’d be scanning these notes and moving on to find the next clue.”

  Declan placed a comforting hand on my arm and my whole body tingled in response. “Showing empathy and compassion for these women is a different kind of strength, Mia. The world needs more hearts like yours.”

  I blinked away tears. “Where’d you get a crazy idea like that?”

  “My mother,” he said. “She was the kindest, most compassionate woman I’ve ever known. I felt like I was always falling short when it came to those qualities. I wanted to measure up, but my father’s influence…It’s always been fighting for dominance.”

  Another mention of his mysterious parents. I decided not to push for answers. He seemed to be opening up on his own.

  “Sounds like you and Bryn would have a lot to discuss on the parental front,” I said. “Too bad she’s already madly in love with Warden Mappleworth.”

  “Bryn Morrow isn’t really my type,” he said.

  I realized his hand was still on my arm. I licked my lips, my head buzzing. Was it normal to want to kiss someone in the middle of all this death and impending doom? Maybe I wasn’t as compassionate as he’d given me credit for.

  “Mia,” he said softly.

  A loud moan exploded from Margaret, jolting both of us out of our stupor. I was by her side in an instant. “What is it? Hang in there, Margaret. I’m going to put you in a condition called stasis.” I felt stupid for saying that—she was a doctor. Even in Terrene, I was sure she understood the term. “If I can freeze you in your current condition, it will prevent your condition from worsening.”

  Declan joined me at her bedside. “It will buy us time to find a cure.”

  Of course, we had no assurances that a cure was even possible, but it was worth a shot.

  “We’ll need the League’s help,” I said. “We can’t bring her to our realm. She’s human. It’s too risky.”

  “Call the League, but do the spell first in case they disagree with your plan.”

  “Good thinking.” It was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Bryn said words to that effect all the time. “Although I doubt I’ll need to call. I’ll probably use enough magic for this spell to get their attention. You might want to stand back. I wouldn’t want to accidentally put you under my spell.”

  “I think you already have,” Declan murmured, and took a few steps back.

  I tried to focus less on my hormones and more on putting Margaret in stasis. We couldn’t save Polly, but there was a chance we could save her mother. I had to try.

  I aimed my wand at the doctor and called to my magic. “Tempus sit,” I chanted. The energy began to build. “Stasis.” Magic flowed through me to my wand. “Tempus sit. Stasis.” A white light streaked from my wand and surrounded Margaret. Her body rose and jerked once before drifting back to the bed.

  “I think you did it,” Declan said, and I heard the note of admiration in his voice. It was music to my ears. “I’ll check her vital signs.”

  “I’ll call Callan now, just so we don’t get some random League members showing up at the door and questioning everything,” I said. “It’ll be easier to deal with a friend.”

  I stepped into the hallway and called the werewolf’s number. No surprise to learn that he was already with Cerys and the others. The good news was that they’d located a dead vampire but nothing more. The vampire had sought help from a shaman in a section of the city called Northern Liberties. The shaman apparently hadn’t been home in over a week and the vampire died there. It seemed that no one else had been infected during his travels. I told Callan about our situation and he said that he’d let his office know he was handling it, so that we didn’t get inundated with League members.

  “Callan is on the way,” I said, stepping back into Margaret’s bedroom. “I think we should have a look through her notes downstairs. Leave her in peace.”

  Declan nodded and followed me back downstairs. We sat in the living room on the sofa, not wanting to linger in the room with Polly’s decomposing body either. The floral sofa was so soft that I sank into the cushions. Declan’s knee was pressed against mine, but I didn’t dare move. I liked touching him, even if only our knees were involved. I noticed that he didn’t move away either.

  I was in the process of flipping back the pages to find the beginning when a couple of sentences caught my attention. “Spell’s bell. Declan, listen to this. Polly seems to be experiencing lucid dreams. She keeps mentioning snow, but it isn’t winter here. I’ve asked her whether it snowed in her realm and whether that fact was significant, but her response was incoherent. I fear the infection has spread to her brain and I am no closer to understanding its origin.”

  Declan and I stared at each other. “It wasn’t the blood or the food,” he said.

  A chill ripped down my spine. “The snow,” I whispered. “That’s how they delivered the toxins to so many at once. They were airborne.”

  Declan popped to his feet and began to pace the length of the room. “It’s worse than that.”

  My nose wrinkled. “What do you mean?”

  “I guarantee you they were only testing their delivery system to see if it worked. Nonesuch was an experiment.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Now that they know it was successful, they’re probably working to create one that covers a larger area.”

  “For what purpose?”

  “It’s biological warfare, Mia.”

  My heart pounded. “How do you know?”

  His expression clouded over. “The how isn’t important.”

  We had to tell the AMF. Even though we’d identified the delivery device, we were no closer to identifying the culprit or the toxin itself.

  A knock at the door disrupted my thoughts. Callan.

  Declan went to let him in. I scanned the rest of the detailed notes for helpful information. Even if I couldn’t see anything useful, I’d pass the notebook along to the AMF lab. If there was enough information here from Margaret’s observations, maybe they could develop a cure. It was worth a shot, especially if this thing could be used as a weapon. A cure would become vital.

  Callan appeared in the living room, followed by my roommates. I shared our discovery and explained to Callan that Margaret was now in stasis.

  “Don’t worry, Mia,” he said. “We’ll take good care of her.”

  “I’m glad we managed to locate these two vampires,” I said. “We can track down the machine that was used at Nonesuch to generate the snowflakes.”

  Declan peered out the front window of the house, appearing thoughtful. “It might also be worth consulting my oracle again.”

  “The one who told you about Sela?” I asked. “Why? Would she see anything more this time around?”

  “You don’t know how oracles work, do you?” He seemed amused. “We have more intel now than when this whole thing started. That’s sure to result in a different vision.”

  “Oracles have helped me in the past,” Bryn said, sensing my hesitance.

  “Same,” Dani added.

  “And me,” Cerys said.

  I held up my hands. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. We’ll add the oracle to the list.”

  Cerys’s gaze swept the contents of the
house and stopped at a framed photograph on the wall that I hadn’t noticed before. Polly and Margaret smiled at the camera, their arms around each other and their cheeks pressed together. Tears threatened to overwhelm me.

  “What kind of monster turns something as beautiful as snow into a deadly weapon?” Cerys murmured.

  “I don’t know yet.” I tore my attention away from the photograph and shoved the notebook into my bag. “But that’s what we’re going to find out.”

  And Hecate help them when we did.

  Chapter Fourteen

  It wasn’t difficult to locate the rental company that provided the snow machine. Robin was able to access records that showed that Gadgets-n-Gizmos had received money from the Vampire Alliance on the date of the fundraiser at Nonesuch.

  We parked outside the bland rectangular building. There was nothing else around for miles.

  “What a lonely place to work,” I said.

  “They must need the space,” Declan replied. “The warehouse has to be a decent size if they experiment with creating things like snow.”

  The door to the front office wasn’t locked so we strode in. An attractive woman stood behind a counter, examining papers. She was as tall as Declan with wide-set eyes and angular features. Her hair caught the light, and I spotted strands of gold threaded through the shimmering copper color. She removed her glasses when she noticed us. “Hello. Can I help you?” She seemed surprised to see visitors. It occurred to me that most of their business likely wasn’t conducted face-to-face. Just orders and deliveries with occasional customer questions sprinkled in.

  “My name is Mia and this is my boyfriend, Declan,” I said. “We’re on the hunt for a snow machine and we understand you’ve got the best one in the quadrant.”

  Her expression brightened when her gaze alighted on the demigod. “Declan, what a wonderful name. I’m Judith.”

  “Thank you, Judith,” he said. “I can’t take credit for the name. It was all my mother’s doing.”

  Judith giggled like a schoolgirl. “I imagine your mother deserves credit for more than your name. She must’ve had an awful time keeping the ladies away.” She tossed her copper hair over her shoulder and widened her smile.

  I groaned under my breath. “About that snow machine, Judith…”

  She refocused on me. “Oh, yes. We have a wide array of machines in the warehouse around back. I do recall a snow machine. It was a recent addition.”

  “Would you mind if we take a look at it?” Declan asked. “It’s my birthday soon, you see, and I’ve always dreamed of waking up to a winter wonderland.”

  Judith leaned her elbows on the counter and sighed. “I’ve always dreamed of waking up to a…”

  I cleared my throat. “Judith…”

  “Right.” She dropped her forearms and flattened her palms on the counter. “It’s in the warehouse.”

  “Can you tell us who rented it most recently?” I asked. “We might want to get feedback on its performance.”

  “I can tell you that off the top of my head, in fact. It was the Vampire Alliance,” Judith said. “A woman named Sela.”

  I suspected as much. The name wasn’t much use, but the machine could still yield helpful information. “Has anyone requested a bigger version of it? A machine that could cover a larger area?”

  Judith appeared thoughtful. “Not to my knowledge.”

  “Thank you,” I said. I wanted to feel relieved, but I knew it was pointless. Just because no one had come here for a bigger machine didn’t mean the culprits weren’t obtaining one or developing their own.

  “If you head around to the warehouse, Bernard can help you.” She batted her eyelashes at Declan. “And I hope you have the most amazing birthday. If you decide to rent the machine, come straight back to me and I’ll take care of everything. And I do mean everything.”

  “Thank you,” Declan said.

  We exited the front office and walked around back to the warehouse. “Did you have to lay it on so thick?” I asked.

  Declan laughed. “What? I only said thank you. I was being polite.”

  I wanted to act like it didn’t matter, but I wasn’t that good of a performer. “I guess she is pretty.”

  Declan stopped mid-stride and faced me. “Lots of women are pretty.”

  “Oh, right.”

  He shook his head. “That came out wrong. I just mean that pretty isn’t a big deal.”

  “And I suppose a guy like you has dated dozens of really unattractive ones over the years.”

  He cupped my elbow. “What’s wrong, Mia? I feel like I’ve offended you.”

  I yanked my arm out of his grasp. “Nothing. I just think we should focus on the machine. That’s the reason we’re here.”

  “I agree,” he said. We resumed walking until we reached the warehouse door, where he paused again. “Mia, you know you’re beautiful, don’t you?”

  I gaped at him. “Sorry?”

  He smiled sadly. “Obviously, you need to hear this more than once before you’re willing to accept it. You, Amelia Holmes, are unequivocally beautiful, both inside and out.” He pushed open the door and left me standing there, slack-jawed.

  There wasn’t time to process such a sweeping statement. He was already inside the warehouse and we had a job to do. The fate of the world depended on it.

  The warehouse was chock full of machines of all sizes. Some were freestanding, while others were crammed onto shelves and tables. The air smelled vaguely of grease.

  “It’s so odd to me to see all these machines,” I said.

  Declan stopped in front of a shelf to admire a device. The small silver item was adorned with a moon and sun encircled by stars. “It may be the paranormal world, but we don’t all have constant access to magic.”

  “I guess that’s true.” I peered around him to look at the device. “What do you think that is?”

  “An instrument to tell time. An ancient watch, if you like.”

  A bald man hobbled around the corner. His overalls were stained with black splotches and he wore a light grey shirt over top with the buttons undone. His eyes rounded at the sight of us. “What’re you doing in here? This area is restricted.”

  “We only want to ask you a few questions,” I said, stepping toward him. “You’re Bernard, right? We understand you have a machine that produces snow. A friend of mine attended an event at Nonesuch recently and raved about the winter theme. We’d like to see it and decide whether it makes sense for my boyfriend’s birthday party.”

  Declan offered a friendly grin. “I always like a good theme. The birthday itself is hardly special. I mean, everybody has one, right?”

  Bernard squinted, still unsure of us. “Who sent you back here? Isn’t Judith working up front?”

  “She sent us back here,” Declan said. Of course, Bernard wasn’t going to melt into a gooey puddle at the sight of Declan. This guy seemed hardened by life and not remotely impressed by a chiseled jaw and well-formed biceps. And piercing green eyes, of course. Can’t forget those.

  Bernard shrugged off his shirt and tossed it onto the nearby table. “It’ll take me a few minutes to find it. Had to be scrubbed but good. Came back from an event with blood splattered on it. Judith was upset, but I don’t know what else she’d expect from vampires.” He shook his head in dismay. “Amazons.”

  I noticed that he sported a tattoo on each arm. The first one made my breathing hitch. It was an open eye set in the middle of a five-pointed star—the Mark of the Mage.

  “You’re a mage,” I said, unable to disguise my shock.

  He glared at me. “What of it?”

  I looked around the warehouse. “Why in Hecate’s name do you work in a place like this with machines?”

  Bernard’s eyes blazed with anger. “That’s what happens when you don’t have use of your magic no more.”

  “Your magic is…gone?” I asked.

  “Taken,” Bernard practically spat. “And so I toil away the hours in a place like thi
s, as you say. With machines. Not quite magic, is it?”

  I was taken aback. Dani’s grandmother was the only one I’d ever known to be stripped of magic and that was due to an addiction. “I’m sorry.” I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to no longer possess magic.

  Bernard rubbed the tattoo as though he could feel it. “No need to be sorry. Brought it upon myself. You break the law one too many times and they can either lock you up or take away your magic. The Justice chose to take my magic.” The way he spoke it made me wonder whether he would’ve preferred a prison sentence. “I’ll be back in a minute.” He hobbled to the back of the warehouse and disappeared down a row of shelves.

  “Did you see his tattoo?” I asked.

  “It was hard to miss with the whole discussion and everything,” Declan replied.

  “No, not the Mark of the Mage,” I said. “The one on his other arm.”

  “I’m afraid I was too busy admiring the intricate artwork of the mage mark to notice.”

  “I’ve seen that symbol before,” I said, my gears clicking away. “It’s an upside down triangle with two horizontal lines different in length.” Where had I seen it before? I snapped my fingers. “It’s the symbol for blood in alchemy.” Thank you, Professor Langley.

  “You think he’s an alchemist, too?” Declan asked. “I didn’t get that impression.”

  “Neither did I, but you don’t get a tattoo like that for no reason. Maybe he turned to alchemy when his magic became obsolete.”

  Bernard returned to us, pushing a machine on a trolley. He moved the machine to the table for inspection. “Here. We can test this one if you like. Should be clean and functional again.”

  “I don’t think we need to test it, do we?” Declan looked at me for approval. “We’ll just take it up to Judith and fill out the paperwork.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I said. We’d take it to the AMF for examination. If this was the distribution system for the toxin, there was bound to be traces of it left. Bernard probably used normal cleaning products. Even stringent chemicals to remove the blood spatter wouldn’t necessarily remove the remnants of the toxin. Maybe the lab techs could deconstruct their findings and, with the help of Margaret’s notes, devise a cure.