Misery Happens

by Tracey Martin

  Damn it. While I understood the need to hurry, that was barely enough time to grab a cup of coffee.

  * * * * *

  Raia bowed out of further discussions with polite excuses, and it was just as well. Her expertise lay elsewhere. While I shuffled my way to the break room for caffeine, I texted Lucen, telling him to gather Dezzi and whoever else he thought would be appropriate.

  Ten minutes later, with coffee obtained, I returned to the conference room to find Tom along with Ingrid, Lucen, Dezzi, Gunthra and another goblin. None of them appeared happy to be there, but personally, I was relieved. Claudius was nowhere in sight.

  To my surprise, Olivia Lee was also there. Her neat, dark hair was tucked behind her ears, and her lips were thin with distaste for the company, but I sensed she wasn’t as unhappy to be called upon as the others. She had good reasons to want to be involved.

  “I decided Director Blecher should be kept informed,” Tom said, “since she’s in charge of this mission. And Director Lee since she’s providing resources and presumably is very familiar with Boston’s magical community.”

  “Fine with me.” As I told Tom earlier, I couldn’t imagine Ingrid was the leak, and I was certain it couldn’t be Olivia.

  “I should be kept informed of what?” Ingrid asked in her German accent.

  This was not the time to bring up the leak, so I evaded that part of the answer as best as I could. After filling everyone in on what Raia had shared, I added, “We need people who know Boston well to suggest where Raj might successfully hide the Vessel.”

  Olivia bristled. “His success is not guaranteed. The teams have only been searching for an hour, and the detection charms don’t have a long range. We need more time.”

  “I’m sure your charms are strong enough to get wind of it eventually,” Lucen said, “but time is something we don’t have a lot of. If I were Raj, I’d simply throw the thing in the Bay. We can’t possibly keep a watch on the entire coast, and if he did that, it would take ages for anyone to find it even if the charms pointed us in the right general area.”

  “Not as long as all that, I’d hope.” Ingrid studied the city map someone had tacked to the wall. “The agents searching the city are using very powerful magic-detecting charms, as Director Lee said. The satyrs haven’t disguised the Vessel’s magical signature the way our people once did. It would stand out, even deep under the water.”

  “For now,” Dezzi pointed out. “But if Raj and company do choose to use similar spells, we have a limited search window. The sort of magic involved would be time-consuming, but they might have begun the process before tonight. We still need to hurry.”

  I was getting sick of being told we had a limited window. We’d been racing the clock for so long I’d forgotten what it felt like to stand still. “Then if I were Raj, I’d temporarily hide the Vessel somewhere that would make it hard for it to stand out while I got to work. Somewhere it was surrounded by lots of powerful magic, like a charm shop in Shadowtown.”

  I rested my head in my hands while everyone debated this idea and tossed out more of their own. The caffeine wasn’t doing much to help me wake up physically, but as my body continued to heal, I felt mentally stronger. But would it be enough to do what I was considering? There was only one way to find out.

  “What if I can track Raj?” I suggested as the conversation came to a lull. “It’s not as ideal as tracking the Vessel itself, but he’s the most likely person to have it.”

  Seven heads swiveled my way, and Lucen frowned. “Is this a reference to what happened at the airport?”

  I fortified myself with another swallow of coffee. “In a way. Raj is in my head, or I’m in his. Ever since what he did to me in Europe, there’s some kind of connection between us. I used it to track him when he left the terminal tonight. Maybe I can use it again.”

  Tom and Ingrid exchanged unreadable glances. “But he was close by earlier,” Tom said. “He could be anywhere at the moment.”

  “He’s somewhere in Boston,” Olivia added quietly.

  Tom sighed. “Jessica, you didn’t think to mention this before?”

  “I didn’t realize what was going on before. Look, I know Raj could be anywhere, but since I’ve become aware of the connection, I can sense it. If I concentrate on it, I might be able to use it.”

  The room was silent, then Dezzi nodded. “Then I say it’s worth the attempt. The rest of us can continue prioritizing where we should search, and Jessica can try her method.”

  “I agree.” Olivia couldn’t hide her dislike of agreeing with the satyrs, so she didn’t bother. “The more options, the better. Jessica, what do you need to do this?”

  Good question. I thought a minute, trying to imagine anything that would be useful, but as I’d never attempted anything like it, I hadn’t a clue. “Just a quiet room.”

  Tom volunteered his office for me, and I left the Gryphon-to-Gryphon and Gryphon-to-pred tension behind, gladly. Shutting Tom’s door, I chose a clear spot on his cluttered floor to sit. Then I closed my eyes and breathed deeply a couple times.

  This was not going to be easy. My nerves were rattled, and the air was practically electrified with the city’s tension. This very same buzz had kept me up at nights when the red sky first hit the East Coast. While exhaustion had finally enabled me to sleep regardless, my blood continued to tingle with the emotions.

  Come on, Jess, and focus.

  Although I was aware of the connection between Raj and myself, I was unable to clarify it. With my eyes closed, visualizing the bond as a rope was usually easy. It always appeared the same too—a glowing cord. Yet not tonight. Tonight there was no magical glow. No easy-to-define rope. Behind my eyelids, there was only blackness that disappeared into more blackness. There was a heaviness to that nothingness too, a purpose or a presence. An awareness.

  My heart beat faster with fear as I became more and more convinced the darkness hid Raj’s black eyes. That somehow, on the other end of our connection, he was doing the same thing.

  Ridiculous, I reminded myself. It’s just the fear and anxiety surrounding me playing havoc on my senses. Yet I couldn’t shake the sensation, and more things that shouldn’t be possible were happening too. The bond stretched and tightened as though Raj was moving farther away. But surely Raj was already far enough away that if he was moving, noticing the motion would be impossible. This motion wasn’t smooth either, but jerking. It was almost as if he was tugging on the bond.

  My fingers curled around the loose fabric of my jeans. Was this purposeful? Had Raj sensed me as well?

  The cautious side of me urged me to open my eyes and give up, but I ignored it. While the idea that Raj was staring back at me through our connection creeped me out, if he was, ignoring his ability to do so did no good. Bonds between addicts and preds went both ways, and I suspected this bond was just a strange version of one. That meant open eyes wouldn’t save me. Only finding Raj and killing him or forcing him to cut the connection would.

  That opened up a whole new conundrum. If I’d somehow made Raj aware of our connection, and he did cut the rope too soon, I’d lose my chance not just to find the Vessel but to find him. Although the Vessel was my larger goal, this was also personal. I owed Raj some salamander steel to the heart.

  Focus. My mind was drifting again, fear obscuring my ability to sense the bond.

  The trouble was, the more I struggled to sense the bond’s direction, the harder it became to notice it at all. I grasped at it with my mental fingers, and the rope turned to smoke. Frustration built in me, overpowering the fear. I had to relax.

  “All magic works on the same principles,” Lucen once explained during the few lessons he’d given me. “With a little experience, you’ll notice you use the same tricks over and over again.”

  And what was the hardest trick of all to learn? That there was a difference between focus and effort.
Sensing magical energies required concentration. But magical energy hated to give itself up to people searching for it. If you tried too hard, the power retreated into the shadows.

  That was my problem. I had to let go of the idea of searching for the bond, of wanting to will it into the shape I needed. I had to maintain my awareness, but let it show itself to me.

  I swore there was nothing more difficult than trying not to try, especially as I felt Raj’s dark eyes staring at me and my forehead tingled with the sensation. As my anxiety over the Vessel poked at my brain, letting go of my desperation became ever more challenging.

  When I finally succeeded, however, everything snapped into place at once. I couldn’t form an image of the bond, but all the power was clearly defined in my gut. I jumped to my feet and spun around in Tom’s office, identifying the direction.

  Relief would have to wait. Hoping I could hold on to the sensation, I shuffled back to the conference room like a sleepwalker—eyes open but otherwise dead to the outside world and fearful of any more distractions. Director Lee and the goblins had left the conference room, and conversation broke off as I entered. I stood at the head of the table, barely conscious of everyone staring at me, and pointed. “That way. Raj is in this direction. Someone needs to drive me.”

  “That way is Shadowtown,” Lucen said, breaking the surprised silence. “Makes sense.”

  Tom put down the pen he’d been using to mark up the map. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.” Far from getting weaker with distractions, the longer I stood here, the stronger the sensation was becoming. I was getting better at grasping it.

  Ingrid pulled out her phone. “It will be difficult to put together a large enough team to lead a raid into Shadowtown. I don’t like taking people off search duty when we have no guarantee this fury has the Vessel.”

  “Then don’t,” Dezzi said. “Shadowtown is already highly agitated. What with the rash of attacks on our people by human vigilantes, the HELP Act likely passing in Congress tomorrow, and us here, working with you—it is too much. If you lead an army of Gryphons into our neighborhood, the people who care nothing for Raj and know nothing of what’s going on will pour into the streets anyway.”

  I swallowed. I didn’t know what in the world the HELP Act was, but everything else Dezzi pointed out was true. I couldn’t sense the anxiety in Shadowtown, but it was evident in the way the preds were acting. “Dezzi’s right. We don’t need to spawn more fighting. I’ll track down Raj on my own.”

  That went over about as well as a sprite at a pool party. Everyone yelled at me at once.

  I raised my hands in frustration. “Then what do you want? I understand not wanting to take people from search duty, but I’m your best lead.”

  Dezzi stood, and she did that weird thing where she could radiate her power and authority. “Lucen will take you to Shadowtown. At The Lair, you’ll meet a team of my people who will accompany you both in your search.”

  Ingrid shook her head. “A single Gryphon at—”

  “Cannot be spared,” Dezzi said. “As you pointed out. Shadowtown is our territory. We handle our own problems, and Raj is a shared one. Humans will only be vulnerable.”

  Tom opened his mouth, probably to protest that I was human, but none of these people were idiots. We couldn’t risk the leak discovering our plan, and in case Raj didn’t have the Vessel, the Gryphons were better off following their current course.

  And I was better off with a satyr army than a Gryphon one. The satyrs wouldn’t disapprove of me killing Raj to avenge Olef. That was just pred justice.

  A delicate shiver ran down my back. Sometimes, with every new misery I faced, I wondered if my humanity was finally slipping away.

  Chapter Five

  Lucen drove, and the closer we got to Shadowtown, the closer I could sense Raj was. By the time Lucen parked behind his building and let us into his darkened bar, I knew I had a problem. My gut was registering all Raj, all the time. I had no sense of his direction.

  Lucen flipped on the lights, and I took down one of the stacked chairs.

  “Everything okay?” He unlocked the main door to let in the posse Dezzi had called.

  Sitting down, I closed my eyes. “The sensation is too strong here. I need to recalibrate or something.”

  Because my eyes were shut, I didn’t see who Dezzi had sent as the satyrs filed in. But I heard a voice that sounded like Gi’s comment that it had been too long since The Lair was open normal hours. Sad, but true. Damn, I missed normal.

  Perhaps sensing that my mind was wandering, Lucen shushed everyone. “Jess needs to concentrate.”

  The noise of clunking feet and squeaking chairs dimmed, and voices fell to a whisper. Fortunately, reorienting myself was easier than what I’d needed to do at headquarters, and I accomplished it in what seemed like only a few minutes. With the sensation clearly in my mind, I opened my eyes and circled the chair, paying attention for changes in strength. It was like being stuck in a twisted game of Marco Polo, the one minus the friends, the swimming pool and the fun.

  “I think I’ve got it. He’s that way.” I gestured behind the bar area, which coincidentally was also deeper into the neighborhood and away from the T station.

  At some point during my find-Raj meditation, Lucen must have run up to his apartment because he’d changed out of the dressier clothes he’d worn to the airport. He stood in the bar’s kitchen doorway, pulling a T-shirt on. “That was too fast, little siren. You didn’t give us time for a round of beers.”

  I agreed with the idea of changing, so I took apart my sloppy ponytail and redid my hair into a tight, no-nonsense braid. But the rest? “You want a beer before a fight?”

  “I’m powered by alcohol. You asked once how I could drink so much while staying in shape? Now you know.”

  Gi winked. “We get all the good vices.”

  I snorted, not wanting to admit that I wasn’t entirely sure if they were joking. These days, nothing would surprise me. “Yeah, well, I’m powered by the desire to cut the smirk off Raj’s face and to close the Pit. So less drinking and more fighting.”

  Lucen slipped his leather jacket on over his shoulder holster. “You heard the woman. This apocalypse sucks the fun out of everything. Let’s get moving.”

  After a moment I realized they were all waiting for me to lead the way, so I headed out the door. Halfway up the stairs to the street, I glanced behind while Lucen relocked the bar. Dezzi had sent five satyrs to accompany us. Besides Gi, I recognized them all, though I didn’t know everyone’s names. Over the last couple months, every one of these brawny men had been enlisted to protect me from one threat or another.

  And they were all brawny men, Lucen included. I’d thought perhaps Dezzi would send Melissa, another satyr who’d acted as my bodyguard before, but clearly not. It made sense, I supposed. Furies were huge themselves and nearly all male, and it stood to reason that Raj would probably have his own posse with him for protection.

  I would have to assume, too, that the satyrs were well-armed besides looking capable of throwing one hell of a punch. Lucen had his gun, and several carried visible blades, but we might need curse grenades and who only knew what else.

  On that thought, I held out my hand. “Anything you guys want to share with me?”

  One of the satyrs dropped two tiny, spherical grenades into my hand, and Gi handed me a much larger one. Feeling better, I added the curses to my pockets and continued to street level.

  Then I followed the pull of the bond. At each intersection, I had to pause and reassess the situation, making guesses about which way to turn in order to stay on course.

  Shadowtown was a weirdly shaped, crooked neighborhood, far longer than it was wide. I’d explored most of it, but I hadn’t wandered down many of the streets for a while. My trips tended to take me in the same directions, most of which were on the main drags.
I passed the bakery where I liked to buy croissants, passed the goblin-owned bookstore that led towards Gunthra’s house, and finally I ended up at a five-way intersection.

  The streets came together at odd angles. Down one on my left was the drycleaner’s shop where sylphs had attacked me and several Gryphons a few weeks ago. Parts of the area had been heavily damaged in the fighting that followed, but there were few traces of it here. I couldn’t tell if the fighting hadn’t extended so far in this intersection or if the normally fastidious preds had already cleaned up the damage.

  All the ornate but slightly sinisterly styled buildings were commercial on the ground floor and apartments above. Except for one on the opposite side of the intersection. That building came to a sharp angle at the corner, and it held a bank on the bottom and law offices on the higher levels. It was where the connection was tugging me, as strong as it had been when I faced Raj at the airport.

  “There.” I motioned toward the building. “I’d bet Raj is there. Do you think he’d stuff the Vessel in a bank vault or something?”

  Lucen frowned. “The bank’s been closed for repairs since the fighting the other week. I doubt it.”

  So did I, but I had no better ideas. “That’s where I sense him.”

  “Then that’s where we go.”

  We took off across the intersection way too easily. The inhabitants of Shadowtown were as on edge as everyone else, and traffic—vehicle and foot—were both light. The bar on one corner was open, but the restaurant next to it was closed. Same with the charm shop at the other end of the five-way.

  Gi tried opening the bank’s door, and to my surprise, it wasn’t locked. The reason, however, was obvious. The other side was a rubble pile, extending upward beyond the opening. Chunks of stone and concrete were all I could see, and yet the heavy glass door in front of it appeared pristine.

  I blinked at it. “I guess we’re not going in that way.”

  Lucen drew a finger down the carved stone on the side of the doorway. “I wondered why this place hadn’t reopened when it appeared to have been fixed up so quickly. It’s a disguise charm.”