The Golem: A Montague & Strong Detective Novel (Montague & Strong Case Files Book 10)

by Orlando A. Sanchez

  “The Jotnar are connected to an ancient consciousness, it serves almost as a hive mind,” Monty said. “It’s usually dormant, surfacing only during times of extreme stress or danger.”

  “I’m guessing an ice mage shift qualifies as extreme stress and danger?”

  “You will die today, Tristan Montague,” the voice said. “For your transgression against my people. Your vow remains unfulfilled.”

  “There is no vow,” Monty said with an edge to his voice. “There never was.”

  “Do you want me to wait outside?” I asked. “This sounds personal.”

  “Stop talking,” Monty answered. “I highly doubt it’s just me this entity is focused on.”

  “For befriending the Vowbreaker, you, too, will meet your end—Chosen of Kali.”

  “Well, shit.”

  NINE

  “Wait, I didn’t commit any ‘transgressions’ against her people. What does this have to do with me?”

  “I seem to recall you being there when we retrieved the runic neutralizer from Steigh Cea Styne.”

  “True, but I had nothing to do with your vow,” I said. “Befriending is now a punishable offense?”

  “They seem to operate by archaic laws of their own. Befriending a Vowbreaker in their eyes makes you just as guilty as the perceived Vowbreaker.”

  “I need to start keeping better company,” I muttered. “The kind that doesn’t get me killed.”

  “You could always join Bangers and Mash,” Monty answered with half a smile. “I’m sure they would welcome your skill and expertise.”

  “I said the kind that doesn’t get me killed, not the kind that races me to my death by C4—or worse.”

  “Just giving you options,” Monty said. “Think of all the ways you can test your immortality with those two.”

  “Pass on joining the pseudo-mage and his sidekick. Not in that much of a rush to test my condition, thanks.”

  “I thoroughly expected this to be quashed, especially with the request I teach Cecelia,” Monty said. “Apparently the Jotnar can hold a grudge.”

  “You think? Your apprentice has gone full Sith,” I said, keeping my voice low. “How do we stop her? Without blasting her to bits.”

  “This Jotnar consciousness seems to have manifested because of Cecelia’s shift. We just need to get her past the shift, and it should return to dormancy.”

  “That’s all?” I said, shaking my head. “Doesn’t sound complicated at all. What do we need to do?”

  “First, we need to find Cecelia in this space.”

  “Right,” I said, looking around. “You said she’d pick something familiar. This looks like a barren wasteland.”

  “I truly hope this isn’t familiar to her,” Monty said. “Even as empty as it appears, we need to be wary in here.”

  “Wary? Of what?” I asked. “This place is empty.”

  “Not exactly,” Monty said, lowering his voice. “Do you recall the threat when we visited the Stynes?”

  “You mean besides the unstable Jotnar trying to kill us?”

  “Her cognitive degeneration and psychotic break were the results of her proximity to that ley-line. I meant the other threat.”

  “Honestly, it was all a blur. That usually happens when powerful ice women are trying to skewer me repeatedly with large ice missiles.”

  Monty grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side while gesturing with the other hand. A golden semi-circular wall of energy materialized in front of us as several angry-looking icicles slammed into it, shattering into dust.

  “Move back,” he said, covering his face as we backpedaled. “Do not breathe in that dust.”

  The pieces that fell to the floor weren’t the familiar blue, glowing ice.

  These shards were black.

  That’s when it came back.

  “Shit, is that what I think it is?”

  “Seems your memory has been jogged. Yes, that is obsidian ice.”

  “Obsidian ice, the fatal-to-magic-users kind of ice?” I asked. “Is that the signal to exit?”

  “Would love to,” Monty said, slowly panning his gaze. “Do tell me when you see the exit.”

  “It’s right over…there.” I turned to point to the entrance that was no longer there. “It was right over there. Come on, really?”

  “See if you can contact your creature.”

  “I’m sure Peaches can hear me. Give me a sec.”

 

  I waited about thirty seconds before trying again.

 

  “Anything?” Monty asked, gesturing.

  “No response,” I said. “He must be out of range.”

  “He’s not the one out of range—we are.”

  “We are?” I asked. “Just how strong is Cece?”

  “It’s not Cecelia I’m worried about right now,” Monty answered. “We need to break her focus.”

  “Okay, how do you—”

  “Cecelia! Cecelia Styne! Desist from this course of action this moment!” Monty yelled. “This is your teacher, and this behavior is inappropriate!”

  “Spent much time around kids, have you?”

  “She’s not a child,” Monty said. “The Jotnar consciousness inside of her is ancient, possibly millennia old.”

  “Inside the body of a child,” I corrected. “Let me try. Just keep that wall up in case the angry, old Jotnar decides to unleash more black ice.”

  “Obsidian ice,” Monty corrected. “Not black ice.”

  “Potato, potahto—bottom line, it’s lethal.”

  “Granted,” Monty said. “See if you can get her attention. I have an idea that may break the hold it has over her. I need to disrupt the focus.”

  Monty crouched down and began tracing symbols into the ground.

  “Cece?” I called out. “Hello, Cece? It’s me, Mr. Simon from next door.”

  I had a feeling “next door” was some distance from where we were standing at the moment.

  “I just wanted to say thank you for helping Peaches find me when I was lost. Do you remember? How you, Rags, Peaches, and the tiny lizard, Frank, found me?”

  It was petty, but I didn’t care. Frank was no dragon, and I would remind him of that when we spoke, preferably after I smushed him a few times with my fist.

  “Mr. Simon?” her small voice called out across the wasteland. “Is that you?”

  I sensed her before I saw her.

  “Over here,” I said, waving an arm. “Hello, Cece.”

  She still looked around ten, thankfully. I didn’t know what to expect when an ancient Jotnar consciousness took over a Jotnar ice mage. Her white-blond hair flowed gently around her head. The air around her crackled with blue energy. It was Cece, but she was, like Peaches had sensed, more. Piercing sky—blue eyes looked at me with vague recognition.

  She wore blue jeans and a black T-shirt with an image of Darth Vader holding a red light saber, framed by the Death Star in the background. I glanced down at Monty, who was still inscribing symbols.

  “Vader, really?”

  “Focus, Simon,” Monty answered, keeping his voice low and his back to Cece. “I know that looks like Cecelia. It’s also a powerful ancient Jotnar entity just waiting to unleash a barrage of obsidian ice at us. I’d rather avoid death by impalement today.”

  “Good point, Darth Monty.”

  “Mr. Simon?” Cece said. “Mr. Montague? What are you doing here?”

  “Keep her talking,” Monty said under his breath. “Just a little longer.”

  “It looks like you’ve been getting stronger,” I said. “I don’t really know where ‘here’ is. This is a place you’ve made.”

  “I made this place?” Cece asked, looking around. “Are you sure? This isn’t home.”

  “I’m positive,” I said, keeping my voice even. “Do you know how this happened?”

  “No. I don’t…I don’t remember. I was practicing my home
work with Rags…” A look of panic crossed her face. “Where’s Rags?”

  “Rags is safe,” I said, watching the recognition leave her eyes. “She’s with Peaches, who is watching over her.”

  “Rags would never leave my side, unless…Did you hurt her? Did you hurt my Rags?”

  “Whatever it is you’re going to do,” I said under my breath, “you’d better do it fast, Monty.”

  “A few more seconds,” Monty said, keeping his voice low. “Keep her talking.”

  “No, no,” I said, raising my hands in surrender. “Rags is safe. She was trying to protect you when something happened. Can you try to remember what happened?”

  Blue-white light erupted from Cece’s eyes.

  “I can tell you what happened, Chosen of Kali.” Cece’s voice had reverted to that of James Earl Jones. It kind of made surreal sense considering the shirt she was wearing. “Tristan Montague failed to honor his vow.”

  “Cece has left the building, Monty,” I said as enormous, jagged shards of nasty-looking, obsidian ice slowly materialized, floating in the air surrounding us. “Monty?”

  “Now—you die,” Cece Earl Jones said.

  I pressed the main bead on my mala bracelet and was treated to a significant lack of shielding.

  “What the—?” I started as Monty slammed a hand into the ground.

  Golden light blazed up from the symbols and raced across the floor to where Cece was standing. The light raced up her legs and enveloped her body, lifting her up into the air. Monty muttered some words under his breath and rotated his hand. The light shifted from golden to a deep violet, and Cecelia screamed.

  The obsidian ice around us disappeared.

  “You will honor your vow, Tristan Montague!” Cece Earl Jones roared. “I…have…time, mage!”

  “Release her,” Monty said, his voice full of menace. “She is not yours to manipulate. Let her go.”

  “She is Jotnar, and mine by lineage and right.”

  “She is my apprentice and under my tutelage,” Monty answered. “Release her, before I destroy you.”

  “You cannot destroy me, mage. You are merely a child. I have existed for millennia. My power dwarfs—”

  Monty rotated his hand again and the light turned from violet to black with red highlights. The energy around us shifted into nails-on-a-chalkboard territory, setting my teeth on edge. I saw drops of blood fall from Monty’s nose. This was becoming bad.

  “Monty?”

  “Release…her,” Monty answered, ignoring me. “Now.”

  “Very well, mage,” bass voice Cece said. “I underestimated your resolve. I will not make the same mistake twice. The child will soon surpass even your power. When she does, she will be my instrument and your destruction.”

  “When she does, I will make sure she can send you to the outer depths where you belong,” Monty said. “She will never be yours.”

  “Stronger mages have tried to resist the call and failed. Many have tried to banish me, yet still I remain.”

  “Enough. Release her.”

  Cece roared with her bass voice for a few seconds before her body hung limp. Monty rotated his hand back to the golden light setting, and she settled gently to the ground. She remained still for a few moments before stirring.

  I saw Monty pull out a handkerchief and wipe the blood from his nose.

  “Rags?” Cece asked as she opened her eyes. “Rags?”

  Monty and I walked over to where she lay. She sat up slowly, rubbed her eyes, and stood.

  “How are you feeling, Cecelia?” Monty asked softly. “Do you remember how you got here?”

  “Yes,” she said. “I was working on the runes you gave me to practice.”

  “Think very carefully,” Monty said. “Did you change the runes or the order in which I gave them to you?”

  Cece scrunched her face and nodded.

  “Just a little bit,” she admitted. “I found a shortcut.”

  “You found…a shortcut?” Monty asked, incredulous. “The rune sequence I gave you to work on was—”

  “Too long, Mr. Montague,” she said. “I changed some of the runes and removed others and still formed the circle. My way was faster.”

  “You changed…removed…runes from the sequence?”

  I’d never seen Monty flustered. It would’ve been enjoyable if we weren’t in an ice dimension, with some recently dispatched ancient angry entity floating around somewhere.

  “I’m sorry, I thought the exercise was making the circle,” Cece answered innocently. “You didn’t say I had to do it exactly your way. Was I not supposed to change the sequence?”

  Monty looked at her in silence for a few seconds.

  “You were able to form the circle with your modifications?” Monty asked. “The same circle I showed you?”

  “Well…mine was a little bit stronger than the one you showed me. Was that okay? It was still the same circle, yes.”

  “Stronger?” Monty asked. “I think we need to get back, now.”

  “What about the ice in The Moscow?” I asked. “And that circle that turned black—”

  “The ice should be gone by now,” Monty said, interrupting me and giving me a look. “We can discuss the rest after we get Cecelia back home.”

  “I’m all for that plan,” I said, looking for the exit. “How exactly is that plan going to happen?”

  “Cecelia is going to show me the modifications she made to the sequence I gave her,” Monty said, looking down at the girl. “If she is correct, then we will go home.”

  “What if she’s wrong?” I asked, suddenly not a fan of this plan. “What exactly is this sequence she modified?”

  “If she’s wrong,” Monty began, “then we will end up lost in some pocket dimension—very much like this one.”

  I looked at Cece, who appeared unbothered by the fact that she had to create a circle to get us home or else lose us in some strange dimension.

  “Cece, can you do this?” I asked. “I mean, really do this?”

  “Yes,” she replied, confidently. “I was doing that when the big voice messed with my circle. Up until then, my circle was correct, especially with my shortcut. My circle was better—no offense, Mr. Montague.”

  “None taken,” Monty said with a slight nod. “I’m sure it was.”

  “Monty, I really don’t think this is a good—” I started.

  “Unless you know the way out or can contact your creature, it would seem that Cecelia”—he pointed at her—“is the exit from this dimension with her modified circle.”

  “Well, sh—sugar,” I said, mindful of my audience. “I really hope you know what you’re doing.”

  “I do,” Cece said. “I think you should hold onto something, Mr. Simon.”

  She traced several runes in the air. The symbols materialized and trailed blue energy as they faded from sight. A large, blue circle appeared under our feet, the world tilted sideways, and the barren wasteland vanished from sight.

  TEN

  We arrived in The Moscow on our floor.

  All of the ice was gone. The hallway was clear of debris, and everything was back to normal, with the exception of the missing door that led to Cece’s place.

  “We’re back,” I said, wincing with anticipation of the expected agony. “How did you do that with hardly any finger wiggles?”

  “My shortcut,” Cece said. “Can I see Rags now?”

  “I’m sure she’s outside waiting for you,” Monty said. “Along with Simon’s creature.”

  We headed downstairs and encountered a slightly less seething Olga in the lobby of the building, who turned at our arrival. Andrei stood at the door, giving Peaches a wide berth. I gave the lobby a quick once over, but didn’t see Bangers and Mash on the property.

  “Any sign of Bangersmash?” I asked, looking past the building entrance to see if the Pumpkin was parked outside. “Seems like they have left the area.”

  “I’m sure they had pressing business elsewhere,” Mon
ty said. “Plenty of buildings need blowing up.”

  “Is that like the mage credo?” I asked. “Maybe we should put that on our business cards? Strong and Montague—because plenty of buildings need blowing up.”

  “First of all, it’s Montague and Strong, alphabetically. Second, that is not the mage credo.”

  “True. It’s more like the mage way of life,” I said, rubbing my chin and glancing at the glacial storm front approaching us in the form of an angry Olga. “We have ice incoming. Brace yourself.”

  Olga walked over to us and scowled at Cece.

  “You almost break building,” Olga said, looking first at Cece and then down at Monty. “Your student. You fix or move.”

  “I’m sorry, Aunt Olga,” Cece said, eyes fixed on the floor. “I won’t do that again in the building.”

  “Don’t you think that’s being a little harsh?” I asked. “She’s only a little girl.”

  “Little girl?” Olga asked as the temperature in the lobby dropped by several degrees. “Building almost destroyed. This is little girl with big power.”

  “That’s why she needs a teacher,” I said, gesturing at Monty. “He is teaching her.”

  “Control, Stronk,” Olga said, wonderfully mangling my name, her voice colder than the ice we had just faced. “Too dangerous if can’t control. Many people in building in danger if it falls.”

  “She’s right,” Monty said, surprising me. “I’m going to need to put some extra safeguards in place if Cecelia is going to be exploring ‘shortcuts’ to the sequences I give her.”

  “Good,” Olga said with a final nod. “You protect Cecelia and building—you stay. Can’t protect? You go. Stronk go. Persiki monster dog go. Cecelia go back to family with chair-eating guardian.”

  Olga walked off and headed back to her office.

  “What’s a persiki?” I asked. “Why is she kicking me out if you can’t control your Sith apprentice?”

  “I think she was referring to your creature, and she’s not a Sith any more than you are a Jedi.”

  “I’m totally a Jedi. Maybe even a Jedi Master. Do you think I should get a padawan, too?”