The Fiddler's Dagger

by W H Lock

  Elly said, "But what's more important here is every society is required to register it at the state and federal level."

  "Fucking assholes," Eno said. "I hate the societies. Bigots. All of them."

  Quinn furrowed his brow in confusion. He hadn't thought about how werewolves or vampires would feel about the hunter societies. Being hunted and killed by groups of people for being who you were would feel like you were persecuted.

  "So which group is this? We find out who they are and we make them hurt for what they did to Freddy," Eno said.

  "Here's the weird part," Elly said. "According to my contact, they got wiped out," she shrugged. "All of them were found dead in the garage of the hunt leader."

  "With their heads ripped off and drained of all blood, I bet," Eno said with a snicker.

  "No," Elly said. "They were shot. Twice in the chest."

  "That's a bit weird for vampires," Quinn said.

  "Yeah," Elly said. "They were a group in Augusta. The vampire that had taken up residence in Augusta left in a hurry that night."

  "So how long ago did this happen?"

  "Three weeks ago."

  Quinn looked at Elly for a moment and then said, "So. The group gets wiped out. The vampire they had been hunting gets the hell out of the state. And almost a month later one of their stakes ends up in our vampire?"

  Elly nodded.

  "Great. Max. Where are we on the book?"

  Max looked pained at the attention suddenly aimed at him, "Oh, the cover is ready. I’ve been working off pictures I found on the internet. If you want the inside to look good… well, I’ll need to see the original."

  "I'll have it soon. In the meantime, I have something that might help things along. Del is going to be joining the team." Quinn waited for any outrage. When only silence greeted his announcement, he continued. "Elly and I will be heading back to Austin to get the book. Del will be working on getting access to the club. And whatever she can about what's going on with the house.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Austin, TX

  Gary sat in the empty parking lot of the pharmacy. It was the only twenty-four-hour pharmacy on the north side of the city. He'd just gotten off his job as night security at the Harry Ransom Center. He was supposed to get his wife's prescriptions. He was also supposed to be going to his third job at the warehouse. The job that he’d taken to help cover the cost of his wife’s medications. But he couldn't get out of the car. He wanted to sit there and cry. He wanted to cry because his wife was dying. He wanted to cry because no matter how hard he worked, he couldn't afford the medication she needed. He wanted to cry because there was nothing he could do. Instead, Gary pushed it down inside with the rest of the pain and got out of the car. He made it a few steps away from his car when he heard music.

  It was a bouncy, happy song. The music made Gary want to smile. The parking lot was empty. The night lights of the pharmacy shining through the red canopy gave everything an uneven and unreal look.

  Off on the side of the building, there was a young man in a white suit. He spun and tossed a white ball in the air. At the last moment, he did the splits and caught the small ball in a hat just before it hit the ground. And for the first time in more than a year, Gary smiled. Without any conscious thought, Gary turned from the pharmacy and went to go watch the young man.

  The man wasn't too much younger than Gary. Gary had started losing his hair in high school and had shaved his head ever since then. This fellow had hair that had a mind of its own and looked good no matter what he was doing. The man's eyes were an electric blue. As he watched the young man dance to the song that came from somewhere, Gary felt better. He watched the young man spin and move, bouncing the ball off the wall or the ground, only to catch it again at an improbable last second. Sometimes the ball would disappear from the man's hands, often to reappear from his hat or on the ground without Gary quite seeing how it was done.

  When the song ended, the young man tossed the ball in the air and spun. His jacket flared out around him as he spun. When the young man came to a stop, he pulled off the hat and threw it to Gary. The heavy crown and folded brim pulled the hat off course. It turned on its side and missed Gary by a wide margin. Gary laughed.

  "Hey, Gary," the man said. "It's nice to see you smile."

  "It's nice to smile. You're good. Where did the ball go?" Gary asked as he picked up the hat. He didn’t wonder how the stranger knew his name. Hearing him say it felt perfectly natural to Gary. As he stood up and held the hat out the ball dropped from the sky and fell right into the hat.

  "Right there," the man said with a 10,000-megawatt smile. "My name is Quinn."

  "Nice to meet you, Quinn," Gary said. "Here's your hat and ball back." The ball rolled around inside the hat as Gary handed it to Quinn. "You might have better luck with the throw if you switched to one of those hats Porky Pig wore?"

  "I've heard that before." Quinn laughed. His laugh was smooth and felt good to hear. He put the hat on his head. The ball seemed to have disappeared. "Gary," he said. "I think we can help each other out."

  "I don't know about that, man," Gary said. "My life isn't so good right now."

  "Yeah?"

  "Yeah. I gotta go get medication," Gary gestured helplessly at the pharmacy. "I mean, I don't even know how I'm going to pay for it. But you don't need to hear any of that from me. Thanks for the good time, Quinn. You're all right."

  "You're an all right guy yourself, Gary." Quinn threw his arm over Gary's shoulder and gave him a squeeze. "I don't mind hearing about your troubles. Cancer sucks, man. It sucks hard." Quinn gently steered Gary away from the front of the pharmacy.

  Gary swallowed the pain and just nodded.

  "But, Gary, I think I can help you out with that. What if I told you magic was real?"

  "I know it's not real," Gary said without hesitation.

  "Oh, yeah?"

  "If magic was real, whoever could do it would make millions curing cancer at the hospitals. But they're not. So it can't be real."

  "You know, that's a real good point, Gary. But what if," Quinn held his hand up in front. He turned his hand and summoned a Circle of Dymuniad and added the Rune of Gwynfydau.

  Gary's eyes focused on the circle floating in front of him. He stared at it for a moment or two with an open mouth. Then Gary broke down and cried. It wasn't a quiet cry with a few tears rolling down a cheek. Gary sobbed. Gary broke. Gary let the better part of a watching his wife die by inches out with wracking sobs that shook his whole body. He fell to his knees and rocked back and forth while hugging himself.

  "Oh shit," Quinn said as he stared in shock at the crying man kneeling in front of him. That hadn't been a part of the plan. "Jeesh, Gary, I am so sorry. I...I...I didn't mean...I wanted to show you something nice..." Quinn waved his hand in the air, dismissing the circle and rune. Quinn tried patting Gary's shoulder.

  Gary grabbed Quinn's hand and pulled himself up to stand again. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He blew his nose on his sleeve and coughed. After clearing his nose again, Gary said, "What was that?"

  "Oh, um, well, it's a thing my Uncle Robin taught me that shows you your greatest desire."

  Gary nodded. Then after a long moment of silence, "Don't ever do that again, okay? I like you and all, Quinn. But. That was fucked up."

  "What did you see?!?"

  Gary looked at the younger man with a haunted look that spoke volumes of guilt. Quinn stepped in and gave the other man a hug. After a moment, Gary returned the hug with an intense fervor. The two men separated after a long hug.

  "Look, Gary. Magic is real. You saw it. Can it cure cancer? Fuck no. Magic can't even cure a cold. But it can make things better. A lot better. There's just one thing."

  "What's that?"

  “I need a book.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Allison looked at the man her husband Gary had brought home. She didn’t care Gary hadn’t called ahead, and the house was a mess. She had
n't had the strength to get out of bed today. She had slept while Gary had been at work. She tried to be awake and cheerful when he was home. She didn't want him to feel bad. She spent a few minutes coughing, each one causing her more pain that the drugs couldn't touch. Drugs they couldn’t afford.

  "So, what you're telling me is that you have the power to make me better?"

  "Yes. No. Maybe?" Quinn shrugged. "Magic is capable of truly amazing things. But there's a lot it can't do. It can't cure cancer. It can’t stop you from dying of old age but it can give you decades of extra life. It can't make someone fall in love with you, but it can get them to want to have sex with you. I can't turn lead into gold, but I can make fake hundred-dollar bills all night long."

  Allison looked at Quinn for a long hard moment. She liked him. She didn't know why. Maybe it was his eyes. They reminded her of the skies of Montana during the spring when she was a little girl. A clear and perfect blue that seemed to go on forever. Maybe it was the way his hair resisted any attempt to be anything other than tousled. But for whatever reason, she liked him. Even though she was sure he was trying to rob her husband blind.

  She looked at Gary and said, "Hon, can you leave us alone? I want to ask Mr. Quinn a few questions."

  "Sweetheart, I think we should--"

  "Hush, baby. I'm thirsty. Can you make me some tea?"

  Gary hopped up off the stool he had taken over next to the bed. She knew he felt better when he could do little things for her. She waited until the door was closed.

  "Now, stop bullshitting, Quinn. I grew up on a ranch. I've roped a fair amount of calves in my time. I know the smell of bullshit."

  Quinn gave her an odd look she couldn't quite decide what it meant. It was somewhere between surprise and a specific question he didn't want to say out loud.

  She continued, "What's your deal? We ain't rich. I spent the insurance money on treatments. All we got left is a deep hole of debt that's only getting deeper. What's the deal?"

  "I need a book. A special book where your husband works."

  "Why?"

  "What?"

  "Don't act like you're an idiot. Why the hell do you want my husband to risk his job by stealing a book?"

  "Because I will use the book to fool a bunch of rich bastards. I'm going to get them to sell me the things they love, and I am going to skip out on the bill."

  Allison coughed hard. She felt like an entire section of the lining of her lungs ripped free. She felt blood and puss hit the back of her throat as she coughed.

  "How much trouble is Gary going to get into about this?"

  "Not much," Quinn said.

  "How do you figure?"

  "Because I'll give the book back before they even get around to arresting him."

  She nodded. "Okay. What do you need for your hocus-pocus? What's this going to cost?"

  "I don't need anything other than your willful agreement. The cost?" Quinn paused. "I don't know what they'll ask. It won't be cheap. It won't be something you'll give up easily."

  "I guess I can assume that there's nothing Godly about this," she said after a long coughing fit.

  "No," Quinn said with all seriousness.

  “The Devil then,” Allison said as she nodded. Without hesitation, she said, “I’d sure sell my soul to be free of cancer.”

  "No, not the Devil," Quinn said with an equal levity. “But close.”

  Allison went back to coughing. When she finished, she wiped the blood from her mouth with a small tissue. She lay back in the upraised bed with a small cry of pain. She closed her eyes. Quinn could see the life in her dwindling. It wasn't his magical senses, but the evidence of his eyes. She was drained of color. She wasn't even a pale version of herself, but a gray ghost of a woman.

  "If they can make the pain go away, fine. I'll take that. I'll pay whatever it takes."

  Quinn stood up and wiped his palms on his pants.

  She cracked an eye and looked at Quinn. "Do we need to get Gary or something?"

  Quinn shook his head. "Just you," he said. He closed his eyes and cleared his mind. Quinn did one of the most dangerous things he'd ever done in his life.

  He called his mother.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Quinn and Elly sat in Big Al’s Chicken & Waffles 24/7. They'd gotten a booth right by the window so they could be seen from the parking lot. They both made a point of looking out of the window. They looked at the remains of their food on the table. They looked at their coffee. They refused to look at each other.

  Gary's car pulled into the parking lot. Two things were unusual about Gary tonight. The first was that he carried with him a satchel. It was a fancy satchel, made from yellow leather with a sturdy strap and a magnetic button with a twisting tab close. The second unusual thing about Gary was that he was smiling. Someone who had known him for several years would even say he was happy.

  Gary walked straight to the table, breezing past the sleepy hostess hanging out at the front of the dinner. She didn’t notice him. He slid into the booth next to Elly, across from Quinn. He set the satchel under the table with a hard thump. Without any subtly or smoothness, he pushed the satchel over to Quinn's side of the table.

  Quinn laughed. "You're looking pretty good, Gary."

  Gary shook his bald head. He said, "I didn't believe it. But. Man. Today we threw out all her medications. And I don't mean I did. I mean, she got out of bed for the first time in months. She took a shower on her own. She made us pancakes. Then she gathered them all up and threw those damn bottles away. It's amazing. She's back. She's back."

  Elly ground her teeth but stayed silent.

  "That's awesome, Gary. Hey, I want to give you something." Quinn reached into his jacket and pulled out a small envelope. "It's a little something from me. It's a pre-loaded gift card, so no names are attached to it. It's about 100k. Should get you two started off right."

  Gary coughed to cover up a sob. He stood up and held his arms out to give a hug. Quinn jumped up and gave Gary a fierce back-pounding hug. Gary sniffed and wiped his eyes clear of what certainly were not tears. He turned to leave.

  Quinn caught his arm, and said, "Hey, Gary. Just one thing. You're giving that to me, right? Of your own free will and without reservation?" Quinn tapped the satchel with his foot.

  "Yeah, Quinn. I am. I know you'll do right by me. I'm giving it to you." Gary nodded.

  "And you didn't open it, right?" Quinn asked.

  Gary shook his head. "I left it shut, just like you said."

  Quinn winked and said, "Remember, you report this as missing the moment you do your normal round. Then you quit your job in one week. Okay?"

  "Don't worry about me, Quinn. My Ally-cat is back. The world is right again, y’all. I ain't going to mess this up," Gary said. He smiled, nodded, and walked out of the dinner. There was a bounce in his step that hadn't been there when Quinn had first seen him.

  Quinn watched as Gary got back into his car and drove off. Without a word, he turned around and pulled the satchel from under the table. He ran his hands over the seams and flaps as if he were testing for any weakness.

  "What you did to him is wrong," Elly said as she watched Gary drive away.

  "You have no clue what I did," Quinn said without looking up from the satchel. As usual, Karen’s ward work was impeccable. While it was in the bag, the book couldn't be traced.

  "Now that you have your precious book, what are you going to do with it?"

  "Nothing," Quinn said. "Well, aside from giving it to Max so he can clone it. I am going to hang on to it for a day or two and mail it back with a note apologizing for having taken it."

  Elly turned and looked at Quinn in confusion.

  "I don't need the book," he said. "What I need is for it to be reported stolen. Once that's done, the Ransom Center will get its Nazi magic bible back."

  "Nelson wants to talk to you," Elly said.

  "Why?"

  "Our boss didn't say. He's not in the habit of explaining what
he wants to meet about with employees."

  "I'm not an employee. I am, at best- at best- I'm a contractor."

  "Fine," Elly replied.

  "Fine," Quinn said. "When does he want to meet?"

  "Right now," Special Agent in Charge Nelson said from behind Quinn.

  Quinn spun around to find the older man sitting in a booth not too far from them. Nelson patted the spot across from him.

  "You really need to get better at this part, Quinn," Nelson said with a smirk. "Have a seat. We've got a lot to talk about."

  Quinn looked at Elly. Elly nodded at the empty seat across from Nelson.

  Quinn tossed the satchel into the booth and slid in across from Nelson.

  "What the hell are you doing, Quinn?"

  Quinn looked around and shrugged. "What?"

  "Do you remember why I hired you?"

  "You want me to steal a dagger," Quinn said.

  "No," Nelson said. "I want you to stop the end of the fucking world. What are you doing?"

  Quinn sat for a moment in mock thought and said, "Stealing a dagger?"

  "From what I can tell you're trafficking in illegal substances, violating I have no idea how many city ordinances, state and federal laws. You’re convincing state employees to commit felonies, smuggling stolen goods across state lines, and you've gotten your vampire murdered."

  "You can't hold Gary responsible for the book. It's not like I'm stealing it. I'm just borrowing it."

  "I'll make sure to fill that out on the report when I have Gary arrested, Quinn. He didn't steal it, it was just borrowed. For a bit. While it was used to steal something else in another state."

  Quinn nodded. "That sounds reasonable."

  "Don't be an idiot, Quinn. Get your shit together. You're supposed to stop Gwen and Oscar from getting that dagger. You're not supposed to be holding giant fuck-fests in Austin. You're not supposed to be stealing Nazi magic bibles. You're not supposed to be defrauding cancer patients. You do that on your own time. Get. Your. Shit. Together. Quinn. Or I will."