“She’s gone!” Logan appeared in the doorway, face turned to granite. “Out the window. Kayla. She’s gone.”
“Son of a fuck!”
Ray launched himself into the hallway, Logan at his heels. He stormed to the bathroom and looked out the window. A waste of time. He ran back up the hall and outside, jumping into the car. Logan slid into the seat beside him. Raven climbed in the back. Ray didn’t wait for Angie. With any luck, she’d keep digging into the meaning of the symbols. In seconds they squealed out on the roadway, flying down it as fast as Ray could drive.
“What was she thinking?” he demanded, pounding the dash with his fist. “What the fuck is wrong with her?”
She’d left without him. Again. This time running into a danger that would more than likely kill her. A danger she could not handle alone, and she knew it.
“She may not have had a choice,” Raven said from the back seat.
Ray twisted to look at her over his shoulder and swerved. He faced back around and hung a tight corner, tires screeching. “What do you mean?”
“It’s possible that her divine aspect took control.”
Ray lifted his gaze to watch her in the rearview. He definitely did not like the sound of that. “What does that mean?”
“We all have instinctual behaviors that come out of our DNA. The most basic parts of our natures. Because of her divine nature, she’s connected to the city. It could be that whatever has happened summoned her in some primal way. You said it yourself—she knows she can’t handle this alone, but if her other self took over, then it’s running the show and unless she can assert her human side, she’s sitting in the back seat for the ride.”
“Fuck.” He took another corner and stomped the gas to the floor as they straightened out. Magic tightened inside him, taut, like an arrow knocked to a bow, ready to spring. Crimson and blue flames danced over his fingertips, and he felt the steering wheel soften in his grip.
“Easy now,” Logan said. “She doesn’t have much of a lead on us. We’ll get there in time.”
Logically, Ray knew the other man was right. But magic didn’t answer to logic, and who knew what Kayla was really capable of? She might have transported herself in some way. Or jumped in the river and swam. He had a feeling she was more than fast in the water.
“Or just go ahead and speed like a bat out of hell,” Logan said when Ray didn’t respond, buckling his seat belt. “But do try to keep your magic under control, would you? I’d hate for us to go shooting off into the sky like a comet.”
“If I knew how to control it, I would,” Ray said through clenched teeth.
“You know how,” Raven said with a noticeable note of disgust. “You’ve been doing it for years. You’re out of control, so it’s out of control.”
She didn’t bother waiting for his reply, but pulled out her cell phone and typed in a number. She held it up to her ear. “It’s happening,” she said. “We’re headed for Sherwood-Tualatin. The Mound. Yes. Get there as soon as you can. Don’t bother finishing the shield amulet. We’re too late for that.”
Too late. The words echoed in Ray’s skull on endless repeat.
He jumped on the freeway, pegging at a hundred miles an hour, which was as high as the speedometer would go. They went faster.
His cell phone rang again, and he put it on speaker.
“Garza.”
“It’s Angie. Natalie—Professor Lyle—recognized the description of the creatures. She said they’re Mayan, though some archaeologists believe their origins go back possibly to before the Olmecs. They are called Tahuizotls. They typically serve the gods and guard the temple pyramids. The myths say they are very smart.”
“Any idea how to fight them?” Logan asked, getting right to the point.
“Not really. They seem immune to fire, and they are supposedly good swimmers. They eat humans, but only the eyes, fingers, teeth, and toes. The rest they leave.”
“What about the plants?” Ray asked.
“Those don’t help us much,” Angie said. “They were used in a great many rituals. Maggie thinks that one of the symbols is different from the rest.”
“Different how?”
“There’s one symbol that shows up at almost all the crime scenes except the one at Keller Fountain.”
“I remember the one,” Ray said. It had looked more primitive than the others, and more bold. It had been geometric, with a spiral in the center. “What about it?”
“Maggie texted a couple pictures of the symbols to a colleague in Texas specializing in ancient South American studies. He told her that most of the symbols have a feminine quality to them, but that this one is clearly masculine—thicker lines, fewer curves, sharp points. The arrow points suggest a hunter. He thinks that it’s possible that it’s an amalgam of several symbols. The eight lines radiating from the center spiral could signify a spider, while the zig-zag line could signify a snake. He says they look Olmec, but that the Olmecs didn’t have writing like this. Neither did the Mayans.”
“Does he have any idea what it could represent?”
“If it does translate as a hunter, or multiple hunters, then it could be related to a ritual for finding someone.”
Of course it was. Why hadn’t he seen it? Multiple hunters.
That piece clicked into the puzzle, and suddenly Ray had a picture of what could have happened. Bad Guy 1 had conducted the rituals where he took bones from his victims. Bad Guy 2 was hunting Bad Guy 1 and had performed the ritual at Keller Fountain. He’d spread the white powder on the wind to infect his prey, and then summoned the three demon dogs—Tahuizotls—to either kill him, or keep him treed until Bad Guy 2 could arrive on the scene and take him down.
“Plausible,” Logan said when Ray explained. “Sure wish we knew why, though.”
“Does it matter? The two are fighting, and Portland is their battle ground.”
“Why here? Why not have this fight somewhere down south of the border? Why Portland?”
“Because of Kayla,” Raven said, not looking up as she tapped rapidly on her phone screen. “Her presence here lets things flourish. Encourages them. But it also settles the magic. In most other places it’s still really unstable. Think of the ghost storms in the east and midwest, or the changeling fogs in the south, or the warp fires in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas. Even just north of here they get the dread rains. Magic is still changing things, still knotted up and twisted and trying to find a natural flow in the world. But not here. Not where Kayla’s influence extends.
“Chances are the first bad guy came here because the magic’s stable and he can cast whatever spells he needs to without worrying about weird interference in the flow of magic.” She frowned and looked up. “Which means he’s probably not got a lot of experience. He may have come into his power at Magicfall, or he’s just not strong enough to deal with the turmoil on the magical plane.”
“Or what he’s doing is too important to him to take unnecessary risks,” Logan said.
She nodded and shrugged. “That, too.”
“Shouldn’t a god be more powerful than that?” Ray asked.
“It could be a smaller god, or perhaps one who’s not yet mastered his power.”
Made sense, and might offer a sliver of hope. If he hadn’t come into his power, then maybe they could beat him. Another thought occurred to Ray, one that sent ice down his spine. “Could he know about Kayla? Could that be why he took her grandmother and aunt? Maybe this is all a lure to bring her to him.” Ray’s hands tightened on the wheel, and magic flames ran up his forearms. The temperature inside the car increased, and Logan rolled his window down.
“It’s possible,” Raven said quietly
Ray’s jaw tightened, and his teeth audibly ground together. Too damned few answers and too damned little tim
e to find them.
“Anything else?” he asked, remembering Angie remained on the phone.
“No.”
“Stay there. Keep at it. Call if you get anything else.” Ray swiped to hang up and the phone scrunched, the screen popping audibly. Green and black smoke poured from it while red energy snapped over its surface.
“Christ!” Logan grabbed the phone and tossed it out his window.
“Get a hold of yourself,” Raven said, leaning forward to slap Ray’s shoulder. “This is how witches like you get dead.”
Logan checked his fingers for burns. “Dammit, Ray. You’re lucky I can protect myself,” he said, blowing on his fingertips.
“Like me?” Ray asked Raven, trying to divert his brain and calm himself.
“In denial. Deliberately untrained. Suicidally stupid.”
“What she said,” Logan added.
Ray tossed him an aggravated look, but didn’t try to argue. They were right. Something he was determined to correct once they took care of this situation and Kayla was safe.
Thinking of her made the storm inside him surge. He fought to contain his emotions. How the hell had he denied his feelings for her for so long? How the hell had he not recognized them? Denial. Stupidity. Just like with his magic.
It’s not over, he told himself. You’re going to have time to get this straight.
He chanted the words over and over, refusing to contemplate that he might not have time. That Kayla could already be dead.
DESPITE THE EARLY hour—just before three a.m.—by the time they reached the Tualatin exit, the local area was lit up like a Christmas tree with dozens of emergency vehicles with lights flashing and three miniature magical suns bobbing in the sky.
Ray pulled off the freeway, eyeing the chaos. A command center had been erected under tents in the Cabela’s parking lot. A horde of emergency personnel and vehicles crammed in around it. He didn’t bother to stop, heading instead for the barriers blocking the road just past Boone’s Ferry Road.
He rolled down his window as he approached. He’d managed to get control of his magic. For now, anyway. A young uniformed officer stepped up to the door, looking pale but resolute. He had his hand on the butt of his gun. Not that it would help him much in a magical attack. Ray didn’t say so. He flashed his credentials.
“We’re headed to The Mound,” he said.
“Orders are to keep everybody back.”
The kid’s voice cracked. Ray tried not to wince. He couldn’t be more than ten years older than the young officer, but it might as well have been a century. The kid had probably still been in high school during Magicfall.
“Civilians, kid. Not us. We’re the cavalry.”
The young officer looked doubtful. “I’d better check in,” he said, and then turned away, talking into the microphone on his shoulder.
Ray held tight to his patience—what was left of it.
“What?” The kid’s voice rose. “Yes, ma’am. Yes. I will.”
He turned back around and gestured for the gates to be moved aside.
“Just so you know, Detective, there’s been a sighting of a big monster up there.”
“Monster? Any details?”
“Witnesses say it looks something like a dragon. Blue and gold.” The kid stuttered over dragon.
“Thanks,” Ray said and then pulled past the barrier before speeding up the road.
“How the hell did she beat us?” he muttered, veering around other emergency vehicles and civilians evacuating, hitting his siren to help clear the road.
“The lake hits the Tualatin River and she’s fast in the water. She probably came down the river, through the lake, and up the Tualatin and then overland to The Mound,” Raven said.
“Raven. Is that your real name?” Logan asked out of nowhere.
Ray flashed a scowl at him. So not the time.
“For now,” Raven said and nothing else.
The Mound occupied what once had been a sand and gravel pit. After Magicfall and during the war, it had become a mass gravesite when bodies had begun to pile up and there was nowhere and no time to bury them properly. Witchkin and humans alike had been dumped into the pits and buried, and eventually the place turned into a massive burial mound.
Most people claimed it was haunted. A group of Native American shamans had attempted to cleanse the place in a grand smoke ceremony a few months ago. It hadn’t worked. They’d all come away shell-shocked and glassy-eyed, whispering things in what they later said was the language of the dead. Many had not yet recovered.
Luckily not many people chose to live nearby. A lot of that had to do with the creeping slime molds and fungi that piled and grew in turgid columns and monstrous shapes, some as large as a Greyhound bus. They overran trees and houses alike for a mile radius around The Mound. Some people claimed if you stood there long enough it would cover you, too.
Ray slowed as they reached the outskirts of the rotting zone where a smaller command center was being established. He pulled over, and the three of them got out. Several cops stood nearby including Dix. She turned and saw him and stomped over to block his way, hands on her hips.
“What the fuck is your problem, Garza? Did you get a sudden aneurysm or something? Because if you didn’t then I’ll see your ass fired. You don’t get to pick which orders to follow. We don’t need a rogue cop on the force.” She spat the words like bullets. She didn’t wait for an answer, her gaze shooting first to Logan and then to Raven. “Who the fuck is she? Civilians shouldn’t be here.”
“She’s a witch. She’s working with us,” Logan said.
She turned her ire on the technomage. “A witch? Are you shitting me? You can’t trust them. They are probably behind this clusterfuck.” Her voice rose until she was actually yelling.
“Exactly what’s going on?” Ray asked in a calm tone guaranteed to piss her off. She didn’t disappoint.
“Oh, now you want me to share information with you?” Dix demanded belligerently. “That street goes both ways, asshole. Maybe you should step up to the plate first, because the way I see it, you owe me, big time.”
“We don’t have time for your PMS, Dix. I need an update and I need it now.”
She took a breath as though she was going to start harping again, but then restrained herself, her lips pressing tightly together. That’s when Ray noticed her skin had gone pale and clammy, and she looked like she was walking a tight wire.
“Blood sacrifice,” she said abruptly, her voice knife-edged. “Hundred people, maybe more, all women and children.” Her lips snapped close, and she swallowed hard before continuing. “Hearts cut out. While they were alive. Fingers, toes, and eyes missing, too.”
Ray’s stomach churned, and bile burned on his throat and tongue. Angry tremors ran up through his legs and filled his chest before running down to his fingers. Energy crackled over his skin as he swore in the filthiest language he knew.
“What the fuck?” Dix exclaimed, jumping back and eyeing him as if he’d grown a second head. “You’re—”
“A witch,” Raven supplied acerbically. “A severely untrained one at that.”
“A witch?” Dix echoed, turning a slack-jawed look on Ray. Fast as a snake-strike, she recovered. She leaped forward. “You asshole!” She punched him in the chest and ribs, her strikes full of muscle and fury.
Ray’s breath exploded from his lungs, and he grabbed her, twisting her around and holding her against his chest, her arms crossed in front of her. She made a guttural sound and stomped his foot while simultaneously smashing her head back. He turned so that she hit his jaw and pain exploded up the side of his face.
He flung her away, not wanting to hurt her. She whipped around and launched herself back at him, only to get caught in mid-stride by a coil of technomage magic.
His voice had gone toneless. The less emotion he showed, the more he felt. Ray had seen it often enough in the war. Logan turned into a machine, shutting down everything soft inside him. Ray had always been grateful to be on the same side as Robot Logan. Robot Logan was relentless, merciless, deadly, and utterly terrifying.
Dix fought the containment, and then stilled, hatred and fury contouring her expression. “Fine. We’ll do this your way.”
The coil of magic unwound. Logan’s gaze skewered her. “Good. Here’s what you need to know. We’ve got at least two gods about to have a fight. Don’t know anything about them, except that one is probably from South America and was around during the Olmec period. Those creatures from the lab—you heard about those?”
“Wait. Are you serious? Gods? Two?”
“As a heart attack and at least two.”
Dix eyed Logan as if expecting a punchline.
“You heard about the creatures that escaped the lab?” he prompted.
Dix nodded slowly, looking grim as he explained.
“They’re called Tahuizotls, and they answer to one of these gods. They’re dangerous as hell, and I couldn’t hold them very long with my magic. There are tactical technomage squads on the way. You’ll need to coordinate them for me. Tell them what’s going on and try to get them in position to help. I’ll need an earpiece to communicate with you.”
“My coven will be arriving as well,” Raven said with a cool look at Dix, whose lip curled as the witch spoke, but she kept her cool. “You’ll need to let them through to me.”
“And where will you be?”
The Witchkin Murders Page 33