Once in a Blue Rune: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Dwarf for Hire Book 2)

by J. B. Garner

  “I do not mean to add to your woes,” Bunny chimed in, “but that seems to point to Patches leaving voluntarily. Garou of your kind have powerful noses. I can only think he had to have covered his own trail if it went cold so close to the house.”

  I could only assume that a wee bit of that acknowledged prejudice was jumping in as Mother began to shake her head. “Why would he? You speak madness to think he would abandon me and our pups so quickly and coldly, Huntress.”

  Before Bunny could throw her own answer in, I stepped up to bat to keep her on task. “Of course not, Lady Sanderson, but we would be remiss if we did not approach the problem from every angle.” I shot what I hoped was a surreptitious, scolding glance at my friend. “What I think Huntress Kincaid was getting at in the end was that whoever is behind this knows your pack’s reputation and so knew to immediately cover the scent trail. Isn’t that right, Bunny?”

  I wasn’t the only one focusing on Bunny. Most of the younger Garou were giving her a combination of puppy dog eyes and ears-back death stares. She glanced back at me, narrowed her eyes for a moment (I swear they went red for a moment), and then relented … a little.

  “Right, Lady Stone.” Bunny turned back to Mother. “After all, the majority of missing person cases are caused either by misunderstandings or voluntary departures so obviously we have to consider it a possibility.” I didn’t relent my gaze, so she pulled back a bit more. “However, as you have strong reasons to believe otherwise, let us start focusing on either misadventure or kidnapping.”

  That was enough for me and apparently enough for the pups. Mother’s expression turned from outrage to maddening worry, not much of an improvement. “Patches was a good dog and a pillar of the community. No one would have a reason to harm him or take him. He even did work with the Council.”

  I had no clue what that meant other than she used a very specific word for ‘council’, again dripping with cultural connotations I only barely grasped. It was important that much I knew. For Bunny, it was like flipping a light switch on. She sat up, rigid as a board, and I half-expected her to fursplode in surprise.

  “Your mate works with the Council?” Her shock was audible as she ran a hand through her hair and scratched the back of her head. “What is his position? Is he on the Council proper? Did he mention the Council right before he disappeared?”

  Mother’s eyes widened a bit, and she did that look-away bit again. “Oh no, he is not on the Council, or you would be sure that he would have been found already. The entire Garou population would be seeking out my dear Patches.” Hesitantly looking up a little, she continued, “It was only small bits of volunteer work, only when they needed a reliable tracker. You know how wild the wolves can be at times, Huntress. Oh, and occasionally to deliver parcels.” She dabbed at her eyes as they threatened to tear up. “Patches is so loyal. Everyone trusts him.”

  That brought on the morale corps as she was covered with her children, either clambering into her lap or leaning against her, trying to comfort their mother. The one sitting on the couch whimpered a bit instead, insinuating what I was sure now was a ‘herself’ onto Bunny’s lap. She said, well, something in whatever language they used in their dog shape, something that made the Huntress’s nose scrunch up and her jaw set.

  “With your permission, I would wish to look through anything Council-related Patches may have kept here in the den,” Bunny said with a resurgence of the usual conviction she brought to her work. “Papers, correspondence, personal writings, anything that is evenly vaguely connected.”

  While part of me wanted to slow her roll, so to speak, and ask for more general information, my gut instinct told me to go with this. Bunny was back in business mode, after all, and she knew what this Council was. Speaking of that, I would have to find out what we were dealing with, but it could wait until she was done.

  The confidence in Bunny’s voice did another good thing: it brought Mother out of her renewed grief. She was still clutching one of her pups to her as she sniffled and nodded. “There are a few records he kept, and I believe some mailings and fliers. It will take a little time for me to gather them up, as well as put the pups to bed if that is all right?”

  “I am sure that will be perfectly fine, Mother,” I said, cutting Bunny off before she could insist on something faster. She felt she was on a trail and I knew how she was about her collars. From the way I could tell she was trying to kill me with her eyes, I was correct in my assumption.

  Well, she’d have to wait. I was even more over my head now than when we started and this was sounding more and more like the big deal Bunny insisted it wasn’t. Mother taking care of the kids would give us the private time needed to get me up to speed.

  “Thank you very much, Lady Stone, Huntress Kincaid.” Mother shouldered the dog-child in her arms and gently prodded the one on her lap to hop down to the floor. “Please, make yourselves at home. If you need food or drink, the kitchen is at the end of the front hall.” Standing, she let out a low whistle that instantly garnered her the attention of her entire litter. “Come now, everyone. You have had enough excitement for tonight, and you still have school in the morning.”

  What kind of school did young dog Garou attend? I had so many questions.

  Bunny finally tore her death gaze from me and stood, doing another curtsy for Mother’s benefit. “Thank you, Mother. We will find your mate, rest assured, and your assistance will be pivotal in that.”

  She replied with a wan smile and turned silently to the open doors to the front hall. Just as she was about to disappear into the darkness, she stopped, stiffened, and turned back a moment. “This is likely nothing, but I just now had a recollection of something my dear said perhaps a few minutes before I realized he was gone.”

  I too was on my feet now, hopping down from the couch initially to curtsy myself. “Anything could be critical, Mother,” I urged. “What is it?”

  She looked almost embarrassed, glancing away again as she spoke. “Well, as I recall, Patches was putting on his shoes, muttering something about run an errand and then something a blue moon. I know that is part of a common saying in English but … well, it is likely nothing.” She turned. “Let me get those things for you.”

  As she left with her pack in tow, I glanced up at Bunny as her nose wriggled and her brow knit in thought. “Do you really think he was using an English saying in Truespeech?”

  She shook her head. “No, I do not.”

  “Neither do I … but before we tackle that” – I planted one fist on my hip as I stroked my beard – “you have got some questions to answer for me, Bunny, right now.”

  5

  Bunny ran her hands through her hair as she dropped back to English. “Yeah, I guess I do.” She began to pace around the family room in a slow circle, carefully avoiding the scattered chew toys. “Ugh, why did this have to be so horribly complicated?”

  “Because nothing is ever simple?” I offered as I crossed my arms across my chest. “So, where do you want to start?” I began to count off on my fingers as I laid it out. “What is the Council, whatever that is? How exactly do animal Garou work? Is your big hang-up about being a giant bunny why you’re both kind of bitchy but also super nice with the Sandersons? How do you even know them?”

  I paused for a moment and nodded. “I think that’s the pretty much the start of it. You can pick any of those and go from there.”

  Her back was to me, but I could hear the heavy sigh she blew out between clenched teeth. “Well, as we’re on the job, let’s start with the first one. That’s probably going to be the most important one.” Bunny turned back towards me as she ended her pace back at the sofa. “Might as well sit back down. This could take a minute.”

  With that, she flopped back down onto it and patted the cushion beside her. Not one to shun an invitation, I clambered back up as she began her explanation. “I guess the best way to think of the Council is like the local government for Garou. There’s one in every town that has us in it, a
bunch of prissy-pants who can shapeshift that get together and try to make rules and keep folks in line, the usual bullcrap.”

  I rolled my eyes as I shook my head. “For Pete’s sake, how many governments do Figments have in one place? And I thought we, er, well, humans were bad about it. What does the governor think about this?”

  “Sinclair doesn’t care, not really.” Bunny let out a snort of a laugh. “Look, maybe I’m overstating things. While most Garou take the Council at face value as some super serious organization, the fact is that they are, at best, a community advocacy group for us.” She held up a crooked pinky. “Both the Drachenreich in general and Sinclair in particular have the local Councils wrapped around their finger. They’re pussycats in the big picture.”

  “Okay, I get it now.” I turned on the sofa, using the fact I was, well, a Dwarf to let me put my legs up without putting my feet in Bunny’s lap. “Why did hearing about them now get your goat? Don’t deny it, either. Your whole demeanor shifted when you heard the name.”

  She stared out into the center of the room, and the combination of frustration and sadness was plain as day. “I always try to play straight with you, Mary, so no, I won’t deny it. The fact is that our Council is a bunch of lazy hypocrites. They make such a big deal about tradition and maintaining Garou honor, whatever the heck that’s supposed to mean, but are always bending down to let anyone do whatever they want if they flash enough Drachenmarks.”

  “I know I’m preaching to the choir, Bunny, but that sounds like pretty much all politicians, no matter the species.” While it was bald-faced obvious there was more going on here than just your standard arse-faced public servants, I wasn’t sure if I should press her in a personal direction. “But that certainly explains why you might think the Council is associated with Patches’ disappearance.”

  Bunny’s eyes flitted towards me for just a split-second before returning to her forward glare. “Precisely. Garou Chien of any breed have a reputation for loyalty and the Sandersons, well, it’s like Mother said.” She shook her head. “I didn’t know Patches was working for the Council in any capacity, but if he was, he’s one of the most loyal people I’ve met so he’d do whatever they asked, regardless of how sketchy it might be.”

  “Ah, so there’s a history here.” There was a bit of red in the Huntress’s glare as her head spun to face me head-on. “Hey, no insinuations or anything. Whatever it was or was not isn’t my business … but it begs me to ask why you even pushed for the usual ‘spouse cutting out on a relationship’ angle here if you knew Patches?”

  For the first time I had ever seen, Bunny actually blushed. Siofra in an Elven formal dress (I swear they are made from moonbeams, imagination, and sexual dynamite) only made her slightly bothered, but this was something else. “Maybe I wanted to believe otherwise. Maybe I … look, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is that, after what Mother told us, I really think that this is an honest-to-God crime of some kind, not the usual crap.”

  Oh, I so wanted to know what was going on in my friend’s wererabbit brain but she was right. It was best to focus on the missing person and getting this family back together. “You’re right, which brings me to question numero dos. I need to know more about Garou Chien. We have to consider that Patches might not be kidnapped exactly but on the run from something bad, like Aelfie and I had to do. If we’re going to find him, I need to know what he’s capable of, right?”

  Bunny arched an eyebrow. “Uh, well, he is a Corgi that can turn into a man. He’s smart, resourceful, loyal, and a top-notch tracker.” Realization dawned after a moment. “Oh, Christ, I’m sorry. I sometimes forget you’re an orphan, not with how savvy you usually are. You need real nitty-gritty information.”

  “We don’t get many Garou at the Easy-E-Mart,” I noted. “Well, if we do, they are in their natural form, and none of us know any better.”

  “I thought Aelfson was supposed to be teaching you about Figment species.” She let out a derisive laugh. “Typical for him, dropping the ball. Well, the main thing to know about us is that we are born with a natural knack for shapeshifting. That’s our natural magic like Dwarves with their runes and Drakes with their holomancy.”

  “I’ve seen the shapeshifting plenty.” That made me realize something. “Does that mean that you guys can change into anything with the right, well, spell?”

  “No …” Bunny was about to say something else but paused, reconsidered what she was going to say, then continued. “Actually, I’m not entirely sure. All the Garou I have ever known can only shift shapes along a spectrum between fully animal and fully human, and more so a specific animal and human shape. Someone like Mother or Patches could shift shapes from Corgi to human or any combination in between.”

  “Like your usual wererabbit shape?”

  “Precisely.”

  I couldn’t help myself. “So, what you’re saying is that you can turn into a little bunny rabbit if you have to?”

  “Do you actually want to go there, Mary?” The tone of her voice told me that I indeed did not.

  Waving my hands in front of my face, I immediately apologized. “Sorry, I had to.” The sympathy in my voice was honest. “There’s nothing wrong with that, you know. It could even turn into an asset one day, no matter how stupid it sounds. Trust me, I know about prejudice and feeling like you have something wrong with you.” I gestured from my mustache down to the end of my beard.

  Bunny tried to come up with a rebuttal of some kind but gave up, shaking her head with a faint chuckle. “Fine, maybe you’re right. It doesn’t matter right now anyway.” She shrugged. “What most folks don’t know is that some Garou can also shift part of their bodies into animal shapes, like a werecat sprouting claws in their human form and stuff like that. I guess that doesn’t preclude that there might be somebody out there who can even alter their true shapes in some way.”

  I nodded and mentally noted this new information. “And I’m guessing all Garou are as strong and tough as you are no matter the form?”

  “And we heal really quick too if you hadn’t noticed.”

  Bunny held up one of her arms, showing off where one of the Corgis had bitten through her jacket. What should have been nasty bite marks were gone. I’d noticed her ability to heal quickly before, but I was never entirely sure if it was something natural or some magic someone did on her when I wasn’t looking.

  “So, we’re looking for a super strong, super tough, regenerating Corgi-were who’s got a solid head on his shoulders … or the people who were good enough to snatch him off his front lawn without leaving a trace?” It sounded far worse coming out of mouth than it did in my head.

  Bunny stood up and walked over to the mantle over the purely ornamental fireplace. “Exactly.” She stared at the pictures there, many of which were similar to the ones in the front hall, displaying what I now knew were the numerous members of the Sanderson pack, while a few looked like normal photos of a couple. I couldn’t be certain from where I was sitting, but I was pretty sure the woman in the photos was Mother. “I’m sorry, Mary. This isn’t the easy collar I thought it was going to be.”

  It was my turn to laugh. I did so happily as I hopped down from the couch. “Easy or hard, it doesn’t matter. Even if you weren’t my friend, which you most definitely are, Mary Stone is good to her word and good to her business. You needed a Dwarf so you got one and she won’t leave you high and dry.” I walked up beside her, patting her on the small of the back (I would have preferred shoulders but, well, height differences). “My pen and my hammer are at your service.”

  She lowered her head for a moment, but I could see the smile creep onto her lips. “See, I knew there was a reason I liked you from the very start.” Turning towards me, she knelt to give me a proper, if brief, hug before standing once more. “Hopefully the stuff that Mother can wrangle up will have some concrete clues for us but assuming it doesn’t, let’s think of what we have to go on here.”

  “Well, the Council is the first
place to start with,” I mused. “If they are the kind of folks you say they are, Patches could have easily got wrapped up in any number of shady deals his employers were involved in.”

  Bunny nodded. “It might also pay to check in on our local Governor if that falls through. Sinclair has his talons as deep in the Council as any non-Garou could. Even if he isn’t behind this, he might know something.”

  The thought of having to deal with that manipulative bastard rankled me something fierce. “Hopefully not.” I tugged on one of my beard’s customary braids thoughtfully. “There’s also this whole ‘blue moon’ thing. Isn’t the saying based on actual astronomical stuff?” My hand was already digging through my bag for my cell phone. “It’s worth looking up.”

  “Not a bad idea at all.” Bunny was doing the same thing, pulling her own phone out of a jacket pocket as I started tapping away at mine. “Though the whole mythology around lunar cycles and were-creatures is a load of bupkis, it does carry a lot of traditional significance for us.” I glanced up from my phone to give her a questioning look. “Oh, harvest festivals, tidal cycles, many of the same reasons why humans hold the cycle in high regard. Well, there is one old fox’s tale that our shapeshifting magic can be enhanced with the right rituals at the right lunar phases, but that really is a myth.”

  The Wikipedia page for ‘blue moon’ loaded up as I arched an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that? I mean, I work magic every day now, and I still get blindsided by new things about it. With so much of what it can do wrapped up in the laws of intention and talent, well, I’m not going to ever say something is impossible ever again.”

  I could tell she was mulling that over as her eyes scanned the entry on her phone as I did likewise. “Look at you now!” She smirked as she glanced over the top of her phone at me. “From clueless orphan to Little Miss Archmage in less than a year or your money back.”