by J. P. Rice
“Yes. Would you be able to create one of those like you did back at Trillium Trail?”
“I can only make them for the Deep Burrow, sorry.” Her wings started to beat and she flew up onto the top shelf.
“It was worth a try. Without that option, I wondered if you could round up your avian buddies and see if you could find some clues. I searched the area around the portal pretty well and Jonathan, the vampire from the Purple House, is sending some of his guys up there to search too. So if you see any vampires lurking around the scene, don’t worry about it.”
Her owl head snapped to the left, staring at me with her yellow eyes. “Good warning because I’m not very fond of vampires. I’ll put the word out and we should be able to get to the bottom of this. You are the talk of Clara Spiritus right now, by the way.”
The Gods were talking about little ole me? “Wait. What?”
“Oh yeah. Everyone’s talking about your epic trip to hell. Where’s Darkwing?” she asked, looking around the room.
“She’s out in the yard with my other dog right now. Are you saying the Gods are impressed?”
“Careful, your head is inflating like a balloon.” She jumped down from the shelf. “They are impressed that you could obtain the tooth of Cerberus and return no worse for wear.”
The trip had fucked with my head. “All the damage I suffered in hell was mental, not physical. Are they still pissed about Artoise?”
“Surprisingly, no.” She flew up onto my bed and nestled her head against my pillow. “Nice and soft. Where was I? Oh, most of the men argue that he was terrible at being a guardian angel. We are trying to assign a new guardian angel to you, so you aren’t hanging in limbo, unprotected.”
“You never know with Artoise. He might just show up out of the blue.” I had to raise the possibility. However, I knew the odds were good that he would never return once he got a taste of some debauchery in Pittsburgh.
Blodeuwedd stood up straight and said, “That is why we aren’t being hasty with assigning you a new angel. It would be quite awkward if Artoise returned to find out he’d been replaced.”
“I understand. I also need you to stress the importance of this to the birds of Pittsburgh. The clock is ticking with Alayna. I need to get that portal so I can save her. Every second counts.”
She jumped down off the bed and walked toward the window. “Then we should end this small talk so I can put the word out. Lovely time, as always, Micheal Anthony.”
Her wings beat slowly at first and then sped up gradually. A sudden wind burst hit me and Blodeuwedd rose off the floor and scooted out the window, soaring high into the bright sky and quickly disappearing from sight.
The next day, I hung out in my backyard with Burn and Dante, impatiently waiting for Blodeuwedd to return with some info about the portal. I tossed a football to Dante, who caught it and threw it back to me. The kid was a natural athlete, quickly picking up most sports.
Normally, I enjoyed peaceful family activities like this. But I was on edge today. If Blodeuwedd couldn’t come through, I didn’t have any more resources to employ. Jonathan’s vampires hadn’t found any clues around the scene of the crime, so we had nothing to go on.
I threw a perfect spiral to Dante, and as I tracked the ball in the air, I noticed a white blur streaking across the cerulean background. An owl flew toward my house and circled the perimeter. Blodeuwedd. Perfect timing.
“I got to go,” I said, gesturing toward the house.
Burn caught sight of Blodeuwedd and I tossed her the pigskin. I jogged over to the house and Blodeuwedd met me on the porch. The Goddess shifted into human form wearing her feathered cloak that covered her milky skin. Her blond hair was wild today, unencumbered by her normal floral headdress.
“Hello, my friend.”
“Hi Blodeuwedd.” It still felt weird addressing the Gods and Goddesses casually.
“I may have something for you. I’m not sure if it is about the missing portal or not. It was found near where you parked your car when you went to the portal. It appears to be a business card of sorts.” She reached into her cloak and produced a small brown card with black symbols on it.
I grabbed it from her extended hand and studied the writing. It looked like chicken scratch. “Do you know what it says?”
She shook her head and paced on my porch, gazing out into the backyard. “I do not. I want to say it’s Sanskrit or Tibetan. I could take it to the Gods and we could figure it out.”
I thought Gods were supposed to be all knowing. Why didn’t Blodeuwedd have the ability to read different languages? “No. That would take too long. I know someone who should be able to figure it out.”
With Jonathan’s age and career in antique sales, I had a feeling he might be able to decipher it. I held up the card and said, “Thank you for this. I hate to run out on you, but I need to figure this out.”
“I totally understand,” she said, as I stared at the card, foolishly hoping that the words would suddenly jump out at me.
When I peered up from the card, Blodeuwedd was already back in owl form, wings beating and ready to take off. “Until we meet again.”
I waved at her as she rose off the porch and veered left, entering the woods surrounding my house. Jonathan was probably still asleep, but he would want to hear about this. I pulled out my phone and dialed the vampire. Surprisingly, he was already awake and told me to stop by with the card.
I walked over to Burn and Dante. As I neared them, I said, “That was the clue I was looking for. But I have to go see Jonathan to understand it better.” I showed Burn the card, “You don’t recognize this language, do you?”
She took the card from me, her fingers scraping gently against mine. “I’m not sure what this is. I never really studied many languages. This one looks ancient.”
“I agree.” I knelt in front of Dante. “Hey buddy, I have to go now. Keep practicing with the football. You’re getting really good already, so keep it up. I’ll see you in a little while, all right? High five.” I put an open hand up and Dante slapped it with his palm.
I stood up and gave Burn a hug. I whispered, “I’m not sure how long this will take.”
She whispered back, “I know. I’ve seen you in action before. Be safe.”
“I will.” Although being safe was not my specialty. My specialty was recklessness with a blatant disregard for my own safety.
I’d already started feeling bad about telling Dante I would be right back. In reality, I had no idea when I would be back. Or if I would return in a body bag. It was great having Burn around permanently, but I didn’t want to be an absentee dad, like my father.
With thoughts of abandoning my new family weighing on me, I got into my car and went to Jonathans.
Chapter 13
I sat down in Jonathan’s office as he walked over to his desk, staring intently at the business card. “I’m not familiar with this, I’m ashamed to say. I want to say it’s Tibetan. I do have someone who should know.”
Jonathan sat down at his huge desk and loosened his tie. Dressed in a dark purple suit that bordered on black, the vampire picked up his phone receiver and pressed a button on the base. “Lexis, hello. I need you to find Roman and escort him to my office please. Thank you.”
I assumed Roman was Del Rubio’s first name, not for any particular reason, just a hunch. Roman Del Rubio had a nice ring to it.
Jonathan hung up but kept the receiver near his face. Our eyes met and I looked away quickly. He could read minds and I didn’t need to give him an open gateway.
He picked up the phone again and asked, “Your usual?”
“Not this time. I thought I told you I couldn’t drink anymore.”
He pressed a few buttons on the phone base. “That’s right. I can’t believe you’re still on that kick. It seems I’m becoming forgetful in my seventh century on this earth.” He held up his finger and spoke into the receiver, “This is Jonathan. Send me my usual drink in my office please.”
On this earth? What the hell did he mean by that? “Even if we can read this card, it might not have anything to do with the stolen portal. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up.”
Jonathan pushed his phone back across his huge mahogany desk and picked up a little remote control. He pushed a few buttons and the soft purr of heavy metal came from the hidden speakers. He tossed the remote back onto the desk. “We need to figure out something posthaste. Let’s just say that the Purple House did a volume of business endeavors with Sleepy Willow. This disappearance has caused some shortages, shall I say.”
I didn’t understand why Jonathan felt the need to beat around the bush with me. “Just tell me what’s going on. Just be straight with me.”
He spoke in a reserved manner, devoid of his natural confidence, “You know that we do business with the blood banks, right?”
“Of course. That’s like the only thing I can hold over your head,” I reminded him, flashing a smile.
Jonathan’s stern, stoic face didn’t seem to appreciate the joke. He spoke in monotone, “Yes. You’ve reminded me many times.” He sat back, kicked his feet up on his desk, and spoke normally, “Let’s just say that the banks haven’t been satisfying our needs. So we found some new partners in Sleepy Willow who could get it for us.”
I hated to hear that. Sleepy Willow had the reputation of draining blood from people whether they’d volunteered or not. They were known as the Blood Hustlers. They kept humans in cells, forced them to work endlessly and took blood from them every day. It was like a giant prison of enslaved blood donors. A fucking concentration camp. This created a moral dilemma for me.
The Blood Hustlers would come up to the earth’s surface when they needed new donors. They used the shanghai method of getting the humans drunk and then kidnapping them. Before the victims knew what was going on, they were locked in a cell in Sleepy Willow.
I didn’t like that Jonathan was supporting these monsters. But this was the messy world I’d involved myself in. Nothing was simply black or white. And nobody seemed to share a moral code with me. Sometimes, I had to shove that code aside, but never forget about it, to solve a case for the betterment of humanity.
A knock on the door caused me to turn around in my chair to see who it was. After my last trip here, I was public enemy number one and could get attacked at any time, even with Jonathan in the room. I primed my magic to bring it out of hibernation.
The door opened toward us and Lexis walked inside. She announced, “Roman is here to see you now.” She carried Jonathan’s drink over to his desk.
“Thank you. Send him in,” Jonathan said with a smile.
Lexis walked out, and my eyes widened as Roman marched through the jamb and shut the door. It was the skinny medium from Reg’s séance. When Glenda had barged in and blasted everyone. Holy shit, did these guys heal rapidly! I couldn’t believe they were still alive from the blood loss aspect alone.
Roman’s upper lip twitched and he sneered at me as he walked by without so much as a slight limp, heading for Jonathan’s desk. He swung his arms excessively and the snotty look on his youthful face basically said, Look, I’m fine. “So skinny boy, look who I’m here talking to. The guy you said had ordered my death.”
Roman kept his back turned to me and said, “I still think he should carry out your killing. I’ve volunteered several times.”
I laughed. I would dismantle this kid in about four seconds. “Ask Roydell and Timson how that worked out for them. And fuck you anyway, nobody even asked you.”
Facing Jonathan’s desk, he looked over his shoulder. “You just did a moment ago.”
“Bullshit. I made a comment that wasn’t open ended. You should learn to respect your elders, son.”
He looked at Jonathan and chuckled. “I should say the same to you. I’m one-hundred-and-twenty-four.” He rounded to face me and tilted his head. “How old are you, young man?”
I squirmed in my seat and his eyes lit up. Roman spoke condescendingly, “We’ve been talking to Reg, you know.”
I cut him off, “Bullshit. You think you’re talking to him. Probably just some demon spirit fucking with you. Because you’re a little fuckin’...”
Jonathan raised his voice, “Gentlemen. I hate to break up the cat fight, but let’s put away our claws for now.”
I sat down, and Jonathan handed the card to Roman. The little prick nodded confidently as his lips moved. “It’s Tibetan.”
Jonathan smiled proudly upon confirmation that he was correct. “What does it say?”
I got up and moved closer. Roman ran his finger over the letters at the top. “It says services rendered, then next to that it says transfer of goods.”
I saw Jonathan perk up and lean forward with great interest after those words escaped Roman’s mouth. The young-looking vampire continued, “Under that it says Mathias Reedlong. And under that it says King’s Mountain.”
The name sent a shiver down my spine, triggering thoughts about the town I grew up in, which was called Prince’s Mountain. I wanted to forget that place as it represented the worst period in my life. I was dead, and this was my life after death.
Jonathan slammed his fist on the table, and shouted, “I knew it. I can’t believe that bastard would do this. And using Tibetan, the secret language of the wolves.” He jumped up from his chair that rivaled a throne and took three purposeful steps toward the wall. He cocked back his fist and it launched forward like a whip. A loud bang pierced the heavy metal coming from the speakers.
My eyes almost popped out of my head as I watched Jonathan pull his hand back out of the nice hole he’d just made. He looked at his bloody knuckles and took another swing, easily busting through again. As I inspected the damage, I noticed he’d hit a stud on his first punch, splintering the solid wood. It didn’t affect him at all. The stories about him busting people’s skulls with his bare fists didn’t seem far-fetched anymore.
I made eye contact with Roman and gestured with my head toward the wall. I had threatened the medium that Jonathan would do that to him on my previous trip; actually, a kidnapping would be a more accurate way to describe my last visit.
Jonathan finally stopped pacing around with a crazed look on his face and sat down at his desk. His flushed faced started to return to its normal orangey appearance.
I asked the obvious question, “Who is this Mathias guy?”
“He’s a lawyer who specializes in representing the supernatural.” Jonathan took a drink from his red beverage and I hoped it would calm him down. Fired-up Jonathan was a scary creature. “Were-shifters and vampires are his specialty. From what I can gather, he had someone powerful like Octavius help him steal the portal and then he sold it to someone else. I assume that is what the transfer fee is for.”
“This doesn’t make sense. Why would they leave a paper trail behind?” I asked.
Jonathan counted with his fingers as he spoke, “Hubris. Sloppiness. Thinking no one can read Tibetan. A lot of his clients are less than reputable people, so he is always trying to hold some sort of blackmail material over them. Since there isn’t a price on the card, I’m assuming that he hasn’t been paid yet and needs this as the proof.”
“There are some indecipherable words at the bottom of this card.” Roman pointed at them. “Now that you say that, they might be signatures of the people paying our good lawyer. How do you know so much about this guy?”
“Because he’s my fucking lawyer too.” Jonathan jumped up out of his seat, seething. He began to get animated again, gesticulating wildly as he paced the length of his desk. “Was. Was my fucking lawyer. Now, I’m going to kill him,” he proclaimed, nearly frothing at the mouth.
I tried to unhear that. I knew a lot about the vampires. Too much. They weren’t held to the same moral code as me. They never pledged an oath to anyone, let alone a pantheon of Gods. They did have the Midnight Council, which kept all the vampire clans in order so that nobody attracted the police. But as long as the vampires stayed
off the cops’ radar, they could do whatever they wished.
I shuddered at the thought of those wishes. “I don’t think we need to kill him necessarily. We just need to rescue the portal.”
Jonathan’s bloody-knuckled, clenched fists rested on the desk in front of him. He was panting like a lion primed to hunt. His wide-open, crazed eyes landed on me. “I appreciate the advice, but you won’t be needed anymore, Mike.”
Fine by me. I wanted to spend the time with my family anyway. Jonathan could hunt this portal down while I rested and prepared for the trip to Sleepy Willow. It would be hard to relax with everything hanging over my head, though.
As I stood up, Jonathan turned to Roman, and said, “Gather up Roydell and Timson. Tell them they need to be ready to leave in an hour. In battle gear.”
“Yes, sir,” Roman responded and walked over to the door with me.
I opened the door, let Roman leave and turned back to Jonathan, “Give me a call when you get back.”
His face had returned to bright red and I was surprised smoke wasn’t coming from his ears. “Will do.” And then he was back to brooding.
I got my car from the valet and headed for home.
Fuck. When I thought more about it, I wasn’t sure if I could trust the vampires to handle this without me. I’d heard stories about Jonathan, but I’d never seen him in action other than punching holes in his office wall. Added to that, he was steaming mad and his judgment could be off.
I started having second thoughts. If they screwed this up it would guarantee that Alayna would die in Sleepy Willow. I needed that portal.
And he was taking Roydell and Timson. Those two would surely fuck things up. I hated them, and they hated me, but I’d worked with enemies before. Fuck.
I turned the car around and headed back to the Purple House.
Chapter 14
I sat in the back seat of the Jeep Wrangler tapping my foot on the ground. Roydell merged onto the turnpike and Jonathan cracked the passenger window just enough to let in some fresh winter air. Timson sat next to me and I glanced over at him wondering if I could trust these fools.