Stone and Claw: A Novel in the Alastair Stone Chronicles

by R. L. King

  “They won’t let me have your phone, or any of the rest of your stuff,” she said, looking annoyed. “You’ll have to authorize it before they will.”

  Stone let his breath out in frustration. If someone had come after him, they’d probably come after Garra too. She could be dead now. But he didn’t think he could even get out of bed at the moment, let alone go after her. “All right,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s too late to call the University—no one will be in the office.”

  “Why are you so worried about her?” She pulled up her chair and sat next to him.

  “It’s a long story. I haven’t told you everything about her. But I think I know who tried to kill me—in a general sense, at least—and I think they might be after her as well.”

  “Who?”

  “Did you say Jason was coming?”

  “Yeah—I called him, and he should be here any minute. Why?”

  “I need you two to go to her place.” He gave her the address. “See if she’s there. If she is, tell her about what happened, and that she’s probably in danger. Let her into my old place downtown—she can stay there. You might need to tinker with the wards a bit to let her through—she’s not entirely vanilla human.” He closed his eyes, then met her gaze. “And be careful. If they’re watching the place, they’re dangerous.”

  Her expression sharpened. “Who are they?”

  “Magically enhanced men. Very strong, very fast. Though I didn’t spot any of them in the crowd that night, so there might be others involved. Please, Verity—go check on her. Get her settled, then come back here.”

  “Okay, Doc. Okay. We’ll do it. But you have to promise me you’ll stay here.”

  “I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere just yet.”

  “Okay. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

  As she got up to leave, Stone reached out to her again. “Verity—”

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you. It sounds like you saved my life. Again.”

  She flashed a faint, tired smile. “Not the ending I was hoping for that night, but hey—I do what I can.”

  She’d only been gone for a few minutes when the curtain opened once more and another woman came in. This one wore a white lab coat and a stethoscope around her neck. “Hello, Dr. Stone. I’m glad to see you awake. I’m Dr. Zhang.”

  “Pleasure. So…how am I? The nurse wouldn’t tell me anything.”

  Dr. Zhang didn’t sit, but instead stood at the foot of the bed. “I’d like to ask you some questions, if I may.”

  “I’ll answer yours if you’ll answer mine.”

  “Fair enough. Your friends say that you became ill while at a bar in Mountain View.”

  “Right. Some of my colleagues and I have a band—we were performing there.”

  “Do you remember anything about what happened? How did you feel?”

  “You mean when things started to go bad? Hot, weak—mostly my stomach hurt like someone had jammed a knife in there.”

  Her expression changed, and her tone took on a careful edge. “Dr. Stone—do you know anyone who wishes you harm?”

  How long have you got? he thought wryly. “Er—no, I don’t think so.”

  “And…there’s no reason why you might wish to…harm yourself?”

  “What?” He struggled up to a sitting position, glaring at her. “Dr. Zhang, that’s absurd. Harm myself? What are you trying to get at?”

  She sighed and glanced at his chart. “We don’t have any explanation for what happened, Dr. Stone—or rather, for how it could have happened. We found significant evidence that you ingested something highly caustic.” She shook her head. “Frankly, everyone I’ve consulted with is amazed it didn’t kill you instantly. But I’m also baffled at how you could have swallowed it at all.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “This substance—it would have had a highly distinctive and unpleasant flavor and odor. Enough that it would have been immediately noticeable when you tried to drink it. Were you perhaps suffering from a cold, or other difficulty smelling or tasting?”

  “No. Nothing like that. Believe me, Doctor—I didn’t notice anything except that my pint tasted a little flat. It certainly didn’t taste of—what—industrial drain cleaner or something?”

  “We’re still trying to figure out exactly what it was—it’s nothing we’ve ever seen before. I’ve sent a sample out to be analyzed, but it hasn’t come back yet. We were hoping you might be able to help us.”

  “Sorry. As I said, I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.” He pushed himself up a bit more in the bed, once again grateful Verity had been there. If she hadn’t, it sounded like whatever he swallowed would have killed him in minutes. “So—how am I now?”

  He didn’t miss the troubled look passing across her face as she consulted the chart again. Finally, she looked up with a sigh. “Lucky, Dr. Stone. That’s all I can say with certainty at the moment.”

  “Lucky? You mean that I survived?”

  “That, too. But it’s more than that. You shouldn’t even be awake, let alone having a conversation with me. But yet, here you are. How do you feel?”

  He shrugged. “Tired, mostly.”

  “Any pain?”

  “No—I figured you had me dosed up on the good drugs, though.”

  “We do. But even at the dosage you’re currently on, you should be experiencing some discomfort.”

  “No discomfort, aside from my standard dislike of hospitals in general.”

  She regarded him a moment in silence, then shook her head. “We’ve got you scheduled for another scan soon to check on how things are progressing. But there’s one other thing that’s confused everyone.”

  “What’s that?”

  “As I said, all the evidence suggests you drank something extremely caustic—but yet we found no damage to your mouth, throat, or esophagus. Which should be impossible.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “So I somehow managed to drink something that nasty, but it didn’t take effect until after I swallowed it?”

  “Strange as it may sound, that’s what the tests show. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the only way it could have happened that way is if the substance was injected directly into your stomach.”

  Or else it was combined with some alchemical concoction to mask it on the way down, he thought. That must have been what the magic had been for—that, and to obscure the taste and odor of whatever they’d poisoned him with. Whoever had done this wanted to make good and sure their nasty little mixture killed him. Once again, he thanked whatever gods who looked after him that Verity and her healing magic had been there.

  He ran a hand through his tangled hair. “I don’t know what to tell you, Doctor. I definitely don’t feel good at present—I’m not ready to leap up and run any marathons or anything—but I certainly don’t feel like half my gut’s been dissolved with acid, either.”

  She made a note on the chart. “All right, Dr. Stone. Get some rest. I’ll talk to you again tomorrow, after the scan results come back. And…when you’re feeling up to it, the police would like to come by and ask you a few questions.”

  Brilliant. The last thing he wanted was to get the police involved, especially since there was no way they could help. “Later, please. I am getting tired.”

  This time, it wasn’t even a lie.

  33

  Verity didn’t show up until late the following morning, and this time she had Jason with her. By that point, Stone had been moved out of the ICU and into a private room.

  “Hey, Al,” Jason called as they came in. “How are you feeling?”

  Stone didn’t miss both his and Verity’s worried expressions. “Still like I got hit by a truck. But better than last night.” He tilted the bed up to a seated position. “Did you find Dr. Garra? Is she settled in?”

  Verity shook her head, frowning. “She wasn’t home when we got there. I even used magic to sneak inside and look around, but I didn’t find any sign of foul play. No
blood, no traces of magic. Everything looked fine.”

  “Bugger. That’s not good.”

  “It’s not?” Jason asked. “Maybe she was just out for the night. You said she was hot—maybe she had a date.”

  “I doubt it. She’s too focused on her mission to be out carrying on with someone.” Stone thought once again about their night together, but that had been different. He pushed himself up more. “Bloody hell, I’ve got to get out of here. She could be anywhere. I’ve got to find her.”

  Verity looked alarmed. “Doc, you can’t go yet. You nearly—”

  “Yes, yes, I know. I nearly died. But I didn’t die—thanks to you. I’m not at my best yet, but I’ll be all right. They did some kind of scan on me last night, and they’re utterly stumped, since they didn’t find any sign of damage.”

  “Wait.” Her eyes narrowed. “You say they found nothing?”

  “That’s what the doctor said when she came in this morning. I could see from her aura that they’re all completely baffled about what’s going on. I suggested that perhaps the initial examination might have been in error, but I don’t think they’re buying it. Now they’re all looking at me like I’m some sort of medical anomaly.”

  Verity glanced at Jason, then back at Stone. “Doc—I don’t get it either.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I healed you, yeah—at the scene before the ambulance showed up, and then again a couple times when I was sitting with you. But I couldn’t fix all of it. You were messed up big-time. I don’t think the doctors’ tests were mistaken.” She scooted her chair forward. “I haven’t had a chance to show that sample to Hezzie yet, but I looked at it again last night. There’s definitely something alchemical in there.”

  “I’m not surprised. Last night, the doctor told me I swallowed something that was essentially industrial-strength drain cleaner. I didn’t notice it, and it didn’t hurt going down. I’m thinking the alchemy was to cover up whatever it was until it got where it needed to go.”

  “Fuck, Al,” Jason said, fists clenching. “Somebody really wants you dead. Don’t you think it’s time to fill us in on the rest of what’s going on? What’s this got to do with Dr. Garra?”

  “Wait,” Verity interrupted, holding up a hand. “That’s important too, yeah, but I still want to know how he’s doing this well. It doesn’t make sense. I’m good, but I’m not that good.”

  Stone shrugged. “No idea. Maybe you are that good. You’ve been growing steadily as a healer for a long time now.” He waved her off. “At any rate, I haven’t got time to worry about it. I’m just going to thank both you and the doctors for whatever you did, but I need to find Dr. Garra. You don’t happen to have my mobile charger, do you?”

  Verity dug in her bag and handed it over. “We stopped by your place this morning to feed Raider and drop your car off.”

  Stone had already convinced one of the nurses to return his phone. He glanced at the door, then used magic to plug in the charger and hit the button for Garra’s number.

  It rang three times and went to voicemail.

  “Damn,” he muttered. “She’s not answering.”

  “People don’t answer their phones all the time, Al,” Jason reminded him. “She might be busy.”

  “She’s probably gone off looking for them on her own. If—” When Stone broke the connection, he spotted his own voicemail icon with a tiny 4 next to it. All the numbers were different; he recognized Gerry Hook’s and two from different people in the department office. The remaining one was Garra. He selected that one and listened.

  “Alastair? It’s me—Viajera. Please call me back as soon as you can. I think I found a lead on the chalice and I want to investigate it as soon as possible.”

  The message’s timestamp was Sunday afternoon.

  “Damn!” He clenched his fist around the phone. “She has gone off somewhere. Hold on—” This time he hit the button for the department office. When Laura answered, he said, “Laura? Stone.”

  “Dr. Stone?” She sounded dumbfounded. “My God. We heard you were in the hospital!”

  He glanced at the small collection of get-well cards on the table next to his bed. “I still am, at the moment. But listen, Laura—I need to ask you something.”

  She still clearly hadn’t gotten past the shock of hearing his voice. “How—are you?” she asked, careful and breathless. “They said it was serious…that you—you—”

  “—almost died. Yes. But it wasn’t as serious as they thought initially. Not feeling great, but I’ll be fine. But I need to talk to Dr. Garra. Is she in today?”

  Laura paused. “Dr. Garra?”

  He cast a look of frustration at Jason and Verity, who were watching him closely. “Yes, Laura. Dr. Garra. Is she there?”

  “No, Dr. Stone. She wasn’t in the office yesterday. She didn’t call in, and I couldn’t reach her all day. We’re assuming she had some kind of emergency she had to attend to.”

  Damn. Stone glanced at his watch, which he’d also convinced the nurse to return. Nine-thirty a.m. He tightened his grip on the phone. “And she hasn’t been in yet today?”

  “Well, she doesn’t usually come in this early. Do you…think something’s wrong?”

  “Not sure yet. Thank you, Laura. I don’t know when I’ll be back—figure I’ll be out until the end of the week. I’ll let you know if that changes.”

  “I—All right. I’ll let the others know. Are they letting you have visitors yet?”

  He glanced at Jason and Verity again. “Er—let’s hold off on that, shall we? I might be out of here soon. Thanks, Laura. Talk to you later.” He hung up before she could reply and flung the phone down on the bed. “Bugger!”

  “What’s going on?” Jason asked.

  “Garra’s disappeared. She left me a message that she was on to something Sunday afternoon, and she wasn’t at work yesterday, with no call to the office.”

  “Don’t you think you should tell us what’s going on?” Verity asked. “Everything, I mean.”

  “Yes. Definitely. But first I need to get the hell out of here.”

  “Are you sure that’s—” Jason began.

  “I don’t care.” Stone located the call button and pressed it. “They can’t keep me here against my will. And their own tests show I’m fine. I’ve got to get started looking for her. Can you two wait for me out front? I suspect this little scene won’t be pretty, so you don’t need to watch it. I’ll call you when I’m ready.”

  Verity put a hand on his. “Doc—please. This is a bad idea. You don’t even know she’s in trouble.”

  “She’s got to be in trouble, or she would have called me again.” He looked past her to see one of the nurses coming in. “Now, off you go. I’ll call you shortly.”

  She and Jason exchanged resigned glances. She squeezed his hand, and then they left the room.

  They were in the waiting room when an orderly rolled him out in a wheelchair nearly two hours later, a nurse trailing behind them. Both of his friends jumped up, and he didn’t miss the concern on their faces.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider, Dr. Stone?” the nurse asked, eyeing him sternly as he got up. “Dr. Zhang strongly advises against leaving yet. She wants to order some more tests, and you need to—”

  “What I need is to get home,” Stone said firmly. “Thank you for everything, Nurse. I’ve already spoken with Dr. Zhang, and I’m absolutely grateful for everything you’ve all done. Brilliant care, all around. But I’m feeling much better now.”

  That wasn’t entirely true. His stomach didn’t hurt anymore, but he’d been forced to use an illusion to hide the fact that he was swaying like a drunk. He wasn’t sure if it was the drugs they’d given him or some leftover fatigue from the poison, but whatever it was, it wouldn’t kill him.

  The nurse sighed. “All right, then. We can’t keep you here against your will. But please follow your discharge instructions, and call your physician if you—”

  “�
��if anything goes wrong. I promise I’ll do that. Thank you so much. Cheers.”

  After the nurse and the orderly left, both looking over their shoulders as if expecting him to keel over right there in the waiting room, he turned his attention back to Jason and Verity. “Did you bring the car ’round?”

  “Yeah. Right out front.”

  Verity was eyeing him suspiciously. “You aren’t fooling me with that illusion, Doc. Are you gonna be okay?”

  “I will, yes. Stop at some drive-through place on the way home, will you? I’m starving. I need some real food.”

  They walked outside, the two of them on either side ready to grab him if he fell. Verity’s black SUV waited in the loading zone. “Shouldn’t you go easy on that?” Jason asked as he opened the rear door and Verity hurried around to get behind the wheel. “You did just swallow magical Drano three days ago.”

  Stone fell gratefully into the seat and leaned back, dropping the illusion and tossing aside the stack of papers he’d had to sign before they’d let him out. “Stop worrying about me, you two. Verity’s healing job did the trick. I’m a bit of a zombie from the drugs at present, but that will pass.”

  “Fine,” Jason muttered. As Verity drove off, he turned in his seat. “So, spill it. What’s going on with Dr. Garra, and why are you so worried somebody’s done something to her?”

  Stone, eyes closed and slumped against the side window, told them the whole story of what had happened with Garra, omitting only the events after their return on Friday night. He finished at the same time they rolled through the front gate of the Encantada place.

  “Holy shit,” Jason said. “So Garra’s some kind of shapeshifting jaguar from the Amazon jungle?”

  “I didn’t think shapeshifters were real,” Verity added. “I thought they were just in books, like fairies and dragons.”

  “I didn’t believe it either until I saw her.” Stone allowed them to flank him as they all walked toward the house. Stubbornness and willpower aside, even with the rest he’d had on their ride over his legs felt like jelly. “They’re very reclusive, apparently, which is why I don’t know of anyone who’s ever met any.”