Caina blinked. Andi? She could not imagine anyone calling Andromache Kardamnos “Andi,” and that included Kylon. Yet there was no anger on Andromache’s hard face as she looked at her husband, only a sort of exasperated fondness. Caina wondered if her earlier estimation of Winston Ravenwood had been too harsh. Perhaps Winston’s easy charm had played as much a part in their family’s fortune as Andromache’s relentless drive, smoothing over the angry feelings roused by Andromache’s harsh personality. Maybe Winston acted as a check on Andromache’s ambition, keeping her from overreaching and destroying herself. If Andromache didn’t have her husband and children, Caina could very easily see Andromache pushing too hard and bringing ruin upon her head.
“That’s right,” said Caina. “I’ve called in some extra help, and we hope we can have that taken care of tonight.”
“That’s splendid, just splendid,” said Winston. “You know, I did my time as a man-at-arms. Even killed a few anthrophages. Ghastly things! That’s why I’m grateful you’re helping out here, Director. All those claws and fangs. They leave nasty wounds, which is why the work the hospital does with wounded men-at-arms is so important. I’d hate to have anything disrupt that.”
“We hope to avoid that,” said Caina.
“Splendid,” said Winston. “You know, we are having a fundraiser tonight, and it’s a pity you can’t attend. But the work is very important, and…”
About three minutes later, and to her own surprise, Caina agreed to donate five thousand dollars to the hospital's trauma center. Well, she could afford it, and Winston was right, it was important work.
“Winston,” said Andromache, touching his arm. “We should probably get to the dinner. And we don’t want to distract Miss Amalas as she works.”
“No, no, of course not,” said Winston.
“Ma’am?” said Philips from behind Caina. “Your guests are here.”
Caina turned and saw Nadia and Riordan approach.
Nadia had traded the red dress and high-heeled boots for more practical attire. Now she wore black jeans, steel-toed boots, and her motorcycle jacket. Beneath the motorcycle jacket, she wore a tactical armor vest of ballistic plates and chain mail that looked as if it had been custom-made to fit her, and there was a powerful magical aura in her right coat pocket. Probably that was the aetherometer.
Philips was giving Riordan a wary look, which made sense because Riordan looked dangerous. He wore black cargo pants and a tactical vest over a black T-shirt, and he carried a duffel bag that probably held additional weapons and equipment.
Andromache raised an eyebrow at the sight, while Winston only smiled his charming smile.
“Hi,” said Nadia to Caina. “We ready?”
“Are you going to introduce us to your…consultants?” said Andromache.
“There’s not really a reason,” said Nadia.
Andromache raised her eyebrows. “Do you have any idea who I am?”
“Yeah, I know,” said Nadia. “You’re the rich lady who owns all those big boats.”
Andromache blinked and smiled a little. “Ships, dear. They’re called ships.”
“Andi,” murmured Winston. “She was the one on the news.”
Andromache blinked, and then her eyes went wide. Likely she had seen that video of Nadia shooting Nicholas Connor to death and throwing the Sky Hammer into Venomhold.
“I’m Riordan MacCormac,” said Riordan, shaking Winston’s hand. “This is my wife Nadia. You’ll have to forgive her manners. She’s very task oriented.”
Nadia frowned as if she wasn’t quite sure if she wanted to be offended or not.
Winston laughed. “I understand what that feels like, sir!” He took Andromache’s arm. “Darling, we shouldn’t keep our guests waiting, and we should let these fearsome security Valkyries you’ve hired,” he winked at Caina and Nadia, “go about their business.”
“Valkyries?” said Nadia. “They’re the ones with the winged hats, right?”
“Kind of,” said Winston, and he smiled and guided a bemused Andromache to the door.
“I don’t think I’d look good with a winged hat,” said Nadia. She looked at Caina. “And I don’t think she likes you very much.”
“Not really, no,” said Caina, adjusting her backpack. “But that’s not important right now. Shall we?”
Caina led the way through the maze of Kardamnos Memorial Hospital. The sight of three black-clad figures carrying bags drew surprised glances, but all the security guards knew Caina on sight, and they let her pass.
Soon they returned to the deserted maternity wing, the door clicking shut behind them.
“Yeah,” said Nadia. “Deserted hospital wing. That’s not creepy.”
“Let’s gear up,” said Riordan.
They dropped their bags in the center of the lounge and unpacked their equipment. Caina took her extra sword and put it in a sheath over her back, and her pistol on her right hip, the spare ammunition going in the pouches on her tactical harness. Riordan produced a similar style of sword, longer than hers for his larger hand, and put it over his shoulder. He also had an M-99 rifle and a pistol. Nadia produced two .45 Royal Arms pistols, big guns with extended magazines, and put them on a holster on either hip.
“I was a man-at-arms and a soldier of the Wizard’s Legion for years,” said Riordan, “and I still always forget how heavy all of this equipment is.”
“It’s handy having a sword I can summon and dismiss at will,” said Caina. “I brought radios.”
She distributed the radios and their attached earpieces, and then they did a communications check.
“All right,” said Nadia. “This is what I suggest for a plan. You’ve got your valikarion sight, and I’ve got this.” She drew the aetherometer from her pocket. It was a flat bronze dial with a crystal face, large enough that Nadia could just grasp it in her palm. A dozen different needles swung and pointed to arcane symbols on its face. “This will go nuts if anyone opens a rift way nearby, and you’ll probably see the power surge. Once I get a look at the maelogaunt, I can tell the aetherometer to lock onto the source of the binding spell.”
“Can we kill the maelogaunt?” said Caina. “We should probably kill the maelogaunt.”
“Oh, yeah, no problem,” said Nadia. She tapped the aetherometer. “This thing is more sensitive than either any tracing spell I can cast or your senses. It can probably follow the trace of the binding spell for…mmm, an hour or so after we kill the maelogaunt. So kill away.” She frowned. “Will that help those babies?”
“It should,” said Riordan. “Killing the maelogaunt ought to release the memories it harvested. Even if it doesn’t, the infants aren’t very old. Missing a few days worth of memories won’t stunt their development, and it should have no lasting ill effects. But only if we kill the maelogaunt.” His hard gaze turned to Caina. “What time did it show up last night?”
“About midnight,” said Caina.
“Guess we’ve got some time to kill,” Nadia said.
###
Before I was the High Queen’s shadow agent, I stole things for Lord Morvilind, and so I had a lot of practice waiting.
We settled in the staff lounge since the maelogaunt’s rift way had opened into the waiting room the last time. Because of how rift ways work and Earth’s relationship to the Shadowlands, the maelogaunt would almost certainly have to open its rift way in the same place every time. If it took a dozen steps to the right or the left in its domain and tried to open a rift way, it might appear elsewhere in the hospital. Or in Kentucky, or Tokyo, or at the bottom of the ocean.
No, it had to come here.
I passed the time in the way I always had. I checked and rechecked my guns and equipment, and when that was done, I did minor magical exercises, sitting cross-legged and levitating a few inches above the floor while summoning thumb-sized globes of fire or lightning that I made whirl around me like moons orbiting a planet. Caina kept giving me sidelong glances while I did that. I think it was bec
ause she could see the flows of power. Or maybe it disturbed her because I was so powerful for a human wizard.
Riordan passed the time as he often did, by producing a cheap laptop and writing. I really had to read one of his books one of these days. To my vast amusement, Caina produced a Malcolm Lock novel and began reading it. Everyone seemed to read the damn things! No wonder Riordan had gotten rich. Given how observant Caina was, I wondered how long it would take her to figure out that “Malcolm Lock” was sitting a few feet away writing his next book.
Caina pointed out that it was possible the summoner was hiding somewhere in the maternity ward or that he would try to sneak in to cast a spell, so we took turns patrolling the corridors and checking in the rooms.
Nothing of interest happened.
At about 10 PM, it was my turn, and I walked past the room holding the transparent plastic cribs hospitals use for newborns, the one with the big window so the families can look inside and see the babies. I can’t remember what the room was called. The natal care unit? No, that wasn’t right. I kept thinking it was an incubator, but that’s for chickens.
I tripped a little on the slick linoleum, and my hand shot out and slapped against the wall, helping me keep my balance.
“I’ll be damned,” I muttered. “My hands are steadier.”
“I’m sorry?” said Caina.
She was standing before the window, looking at the cribs. She looked calm, but there was something off about her. I wasn’t sure, but I thought she seemed pensive.
“Talking to myself,” I said, coming next to her. “Everything all right?”
“So far,” she said. “I haven’t seen anything yet.”
“Nothing on the aetherometer,” I said.
“Can I ask you a personal question?” said Caina.
“If you want,” I said, surprised at the swerve in topic. “If I don’t like the question, I’m going to give you a smartass answer, though.”
“That’s fair,” said Caina, smiling, but the smile faded. “Do you and Riordan want to have children?”
I shrugged. “It’s not something we have to think about. Shadow Hunters generally can’t conceive. The Shadowmorph makes it impossible. Though I suppose I would be the one doing the conceiving, so Riordan can’t…er…fertilize me. Is that the right word?”
Plus, Riordan had convinced me to get a physical since I had ignored doctors all my life, and it turned out that multiple uses of the Elven regeneration spell had seriously screwed up my reproductive system. (The Lord Inquisitor Arvalaeon hadn’t bothered to mention that little fact when he taught me the spell.) So between that and Riordan’s Shadowmorph, I was unlikely to become pregnant. It was theoretically possible, but in the same way that it was theoretically possible to take five dollars, invest it in the stock market, and become a millionaire the same day, but it wasn’t going to happen.
“That isn’t what I asked,” said Caina. “Do you want to have children?”
“Not…really,” I said. The question didn’t bother me, but I knew some people got seriously worked up about the topic. “I spent most of my life being responsible for someone else. If I screwed up or made a mistake, he was going to die. He’s better now, but I don’t want to repeat the experience.” I shrugged. I didn’t want to talk about the Eternity Crucible. “Also, I’ve got a lot of…stuff in my head. Bad stuff. I don’t always deal with it well. I don’t want to inflict that on some kid.” I shrugged again. “I mean, if the one in a million chance happens and I get pregnant, it won’t be the worst thing that ever happened to me.” Now there was an understatement. “I’ll love the kid and do my best with him. But, no, it’s not something I would seek out on purpose.”
Caina nodded, still staring at the cribs.
“But I’m guessing you really want kids,” I said.
Caina smiled. “How did you know?”
“Some women get that ‘really-want-a-baby’ expression.” I waved a hand in front of her face. “There’s that expression. Right there.”
Caina raised an eyebrow. “I do not have that expression.”
“She said, gazing sadly at a row of empty cribs.”
“When you were a little girl,” said Caina, “what did you want to be?”
“Uh,” I said. What I had wanted, my entire life, had been to find a way to save Russell. That had been my focus from the time that Morvilind had found me onward. “I…never really thought about it. I didn’t have much choice. I was recruited as a shadow agent when I was little. So that’s what I did.” I tried to think back to those few years before my parents had died. “I think I wanted to be a horse for a while when I was four, but that really wasn’t a career option.”
“I wanted to be a mother,” admitted Caina. “Very badly.”
“But I bet that didn’t quite work out,” I said, remembering the scar I had seen on her stomach.
“No. It did not.” Caina took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be talking about this. We’re in the middle of something serious, and I’m feeling sorry for myself. It’s just…”
“You want to have kids, but you can’t,” I said, “so seeing a maelogaunt preying on newborns really gets to you.”
Caina gave me a sharp look.
“See, you’re not the only one who can make clever deductions,” I said.
“I suppose not,” said Caina. “But you’re right. It does get to me.”
“Bet you’ll feel a lot better when we kick the maelogaunt’s ass.”
Caina blinked and then laughed. “You know, I rather think I will.”
“I always feel better after a long run and a hot bath,” I said. “But, if that’s not available, I think killing a maelogaunt is the next best thing. Let’s check in with Riordan. If the maelogaunt isn’t going to show up for a while, maybe you and I could sleep in shifts to stay fresh.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” said Caina as we headed down the corridor to the staff lounge. “If you don’t mind my asking, how did you and Riordan meet?”
“Oh, about how you’d expect,” I said. “I was robbing a mansion, and Riordan had a writ of execution for the guy who owned the place. Don’t worry, he was a total bastard. Anyway, Riordan and I stumbled into each other, and it was love at first sight. Well. Sort of. A lot of other stuff happened first.”
“I can imagine,” said Caina.
We returned to the staff lounge. Riordan remained where he had been when I had left, typing on his laptop. He looked up as we entered.
“Anything?” said Riordan.
“Nope,” I said. “Nothing except a creepy deserted hospital ward. You’d think the maelogaunt would show a little more initiative.”
“It’s only just past ten,” said Caina. “It didn’t show up until midnight the last time. Why don’t you get some sleep? I can keep watch for it.”
“I didn’t stay up half the night last night,” I responded. “You should…”
My aetherometer started buzzing in my pocket, and in the exact same instant Caina’s gaze snapped around to look at the door.
“You see something?” I said, yanking the aetherometer from my pocket. The thing was heavier than I liked to carry around, but I couldn’t deny that it was useful. The dials looked incomprehensible, but you had to have a telepathic link with an aetherometer to use the instrument. That telepathic link told me what the various dials meant, and the aetherometer had picked up an opening rift way.
“Yeah,” said Caina, blinking. “A rift way just opened…that way.” She pointed. “In the waiting room, same as before.”
“All right,” I said as Riordan got to his feet. “Let’s go hunt down a maelogaunt.”
***
Chapter 7: Unappreciated
Caina eased open the lounge door and looked up and down the office hallway.
There was no sign of the maelogaunt. The last time it had gone through the patient rooms, looking for victims. Perhaps it didn’t expect to find anyone in the office area. Or maybe its summoner commanded it
to look through the patient rooms, and the creature wouldn’t or couldn’t deviate from that.
“How long will you need for your aetherometer to track back the controlling spell?” whispered Caina.
“About five seconds,” whispered Nadia back. “Maybe ten.”
Caina nodded, called her valikon to her hand, and glided forward. She wished she had told Nadia and Riordan to move silently, but as it happened, that turned out to be unnecessary. Nadia moved without making a sound. Well, she had been an Elven lord’s shadow agent before she entered the High Queen’s service. Riordan moved in silence as well, which was always surprising in such a large man. But Shadow Hunters who made noise at an inopportune time would likely not remain alive for long.
They walked to the end of the corridor, and Caina peered past the receptionist’s desk and into the waiting room. It was empty, with no sign of the maelogaunt.
“It will have gone up the hall,” whispered Caina. “Let’s sneak up behind it. Nadia, as soon as your aetherometer has a lock, I’ll attack.” Nadia and Riordan both nodded. Caina eased around the desk, her valikon held low at her side. They crossed the waiting room, and Caina looked down the hallway of patient rooms.
And as before, she saw the maelogaunt gliding forward, the tentacles lashing from beneath the hem of its robe and propelling it forward. The greasy gray robes shrouded its slight form, its head hunched as it moved from room to room. Nadia’s face twisted with disgust, while Riordan remained impassive. But both remained silent, which was the important part.
They stood motionless, watching the maelogaunt. Caina counted the seconds in her head, each one seeming as long as an hour. After seven seconds, Nadia looked up from her aetherometer and gave a sharp nod.
Caina glided forward, drawing back her valikon to stab.
And as before, the binding spells on the maelogaunt pulsed with power, and the creature whirled to face them. Caina glimpsed the hideous, insect-like face beneath the cowl, and she sprinted forward, but it was too late. Magical force blazed around the creature, and it unleashed a telekinetic burst at Caina. She threw herself to the side, dodging the force that would have crushed her ribcage, but the blast still clipped her. She spun around and hit the wall with enough force to leave bruises, and she fell to the floor. Caina sprang back to her feet, but the maelogaunt was already casting another spell.
Cloak & Ghost: Lost Gate Page 8