by N M Thorn
Jim finally pulled his attention off the screen and looked up at Gunz, meeting his eyes, sparkling with humor.
“Okay, you got me,” said Jim chuckling. He pushed the button on the computer screen and shut it down. “Sorry. I’m listening now.”
Gunz reached in his pocket and pulled two pictures out. Then he took a couple of pins from the desk and secured both pictures to the wall with the pins. He tapped at the photo of Anatoly Karpenko with his finger and turned to Jim.
“Guess who visited me in my own house a couple of days ago?” he asked.
Jim paled, his face getting that cold look that was reserved for urgent situations that everyone in his team knew so well.
“He came to you alone? What did he want?” he asked, getting up and approaching the wall with the map.
“He wanted me to be his personal assassin. And he asked me so nicely that I just couldn’t say no,” replied Gunz through gritted teeth. He pointed at the picture of the young woman that he pinned to the wall above the photo of Anatoly. “He wants me to kill her. Agent Andrews, meet Eve.”
As concisely as he could, Gunz gave Jim all the important details of his conversation with the head of the Russian Mob. Then he covered everything that happened from the moment Anatoly left his house, including the fight with the upir in the dental office and the double attack of volkolaks.
“Do you know anything about this Eve?” asked Jim, his forehead creased as he observed the photo.
“Except her name and the fact that she is a creature of magic, I know nothing,” replied Gunz, pulling the chair out, sitting down. “Well, I also know that she’s one evil bitch. I checked out the dental office where Dmitri Koval was killed, and I must tell you, since I became the Fire Salamander, I have never sensed such a dark and malignant energy signature as hers.”
“Do you know what she is?” Jim opened his computer again and was quickly typing in some notes.
“No. I can tell that the residual energy of her magic had traces of demonic presence. So, possibly she’s a demon. But not a garden-variety demon. I’m sure that the upir in the dental office and the attack of volkolaks were her handy work. Whatever she is, she’s so powerful that she could turn hundreds of people into volkolaks. I don’t know anyone who has this kind of power.”
“Let me run her photo through the facial recognition program,” suggested Jim. He got up and snapped a photo of Eve’s picture with his cellphone. “Let’s see if I can find out anything about her. I’ll get Angelique to check her out too.”
“Thank you, Jim,” said Gunz, twisting an FBI pen in his fingers. “I doubt that you’ll find anything in your FBI database on her. But maybe you can give me some information on Aidan McGrath, the owner of Elements Martial Arts and Tessa Donovan, his student. I still don’t know what or who Aidan is, and I have a feeling that Tessa is somehow connected to everything that’s going on. So, anything you can give me would help.”
Gunz got up and put the pen back on the desk. He was going to say his goodbyes to Jim when the phone on his desk rang. Jim raised his hand, asking Gunz to stay and picked up the phone.
“Agent Andrews.” He listened to someone on the other side, nodding. “When did it happen... Yes, please forward everything you have… Yes, and forensic files too… Everything.”
Jim listened for a few more minutes, his hands squeezing the phone and then hung up. He raised his eyes at Gunz, troubled.
“I think you can expect another visit from your Russian friend,” he said quietly. “Last night, Vasyli German was found dead in his house. No sign of forced entry or any kind of foul play. Matches the offender’s M.O. on the other six cases we have so far. Vasyli was another close friend and um… colleague of Anatoly Karpenko.”
“Eve doesn’t take her time,” muttered Gunz, biting his lip. “I thought she was supposed to give Anatoly a full week before she started killing off his people.”
“Gunz, we need to move faster, or more innocent people will die,” said Jim.
“You mean, innocent gangsters?” Gunz chuckled humorlessly and his steel eyes got darker. “I need to move faster, Jim, or my only friends are as good as dead. You understand that? And I have no idea where to look for this woman or how to fight her.”
“I’m sorry, Gunz, you’re right,” said Jim. “For you, it’s personal.”
Gunz closed his eyes for a moment, his lips pressed tight together. “Jim, do you know who this highly-influential and powerful person is? Eve wants him out of the picture because she’s afraid of him. Possibly he could be the key to fighting her.”
Jim shook his head no. He came back to the wall and pinned two more cards on the map. A card with a large question mark on it, he placed next to the photo of Eve and a card with the name “Vasyli German”, he put next to the photo of Dmitry Koval.
“At least now some connections are starting to take shape,” he said quietly.
Jim took a red thread from his desk and wrapped it around the pins, connecting the photo of Eve with Anatoly, and the photo of Anatoly with the picture of Koval and the card with Vasyli German’s name on it. Then he connected the photo of Eve with the question mark. Gunz observed the wall and took two blank cards from Jim’s desk. He wrote a name on each card – Aidan McGrath and Tessa Donovan.
“Here,” he said, offering both cards to Jim. “I don’t know where these two would fit in, but I’m sure, both of them are involved somehow.”
Jim pinned two new cards to the wall, connecting them with each other and turned to Gunz, staring at him with narrowed eyes. Then he took a few of the yellow cards from his desk and wrote: upir, four demons, two packs of volkolaks.
“Something tells me that your name should be on this wall of fame too, Gunz,” muttered Jim, pinning the yellow cards to the wall. “You were present during all these attacks. Tessa Donovan was present only at two.”
Jim connected Tessa’s card with the cards that said “Upir” and “Four Demons”. Gunz took a white card and wrote his name on it – Zane Burns. Then he took a yellow card and wrote “Succubus”. He pinned both cards to the wall, connecting his name with all the yellow cards and also with Anatoly’s, Tessa’s and Aidan’s cards.
“Succubus?” Jim asked, trying not to laugh. “A succubus attacked you? I’m sure it was terrifying.”
Gunz glanced at him and rolled his eyes. “I hope you realize that succubi are demons and they can be deadly to a man, Jim. Don’t underestimate them. Just because it’ll go for your crotch instead of your throat, it doesn’t make it any less dangerous. And it didn’t attack me. It tried to seduce me using its magic. Why I found it strange, was because succubi are extremely sensitive to the energy of magic. But this one didn’t recognize the Fire Salamander in me.”
Jim took a couple of steps back and observed the wall like an artist observing his work. Then he tapped Gunz once on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, man,” he said, true regret underlying his voice. “I got you involved and forced you right in the middle of this mess. If you want out, you’re free to stop the investigation any time you want. Despite what your intimidating mentor wrote to me, you’re a free man. I don’t want you to feel like you’re obligated to obey my every command. I had no right to put you in harm’s way.”
“I know that, Jim. First of all, you didn’t force me,” objected Gunz. “Second, it’s a lot safer for me to be in the middle of this magical mayhem than for you. I’m immortal after all. I’ll survive. And last, I don’t know what Kal wrote to you and I don’t give a damn. I work with you because I love my job. I spent many years in the military and I learned to respect the chain of command. But I comply with your commands because I agree with your decisions. Having said that, you can’t force me to do anything I don’t want to.” Gunz winked at him and got up.
“Uhhh, you’re in so much trouble, little Salamander. I heard what you said about your master.” Mishka’s voice rang in Gunz’s head and he cringed inwardly. He totally forgot about the little spy that was hid
ing inside his watch. “I’m so going to tell Kal everything.”
“I’ll deal with you later, little rat,” whispered Gunz, raising his watch up, like he was checking the time. Right away an electric shock pierced his body, originating in the watch and traveling all the way to his toes. Gunz grunted and squeezed his hand into a tight fist, fighting the desire to smash the watch together with its pesky passenger into pieces.
“Did you say something?” asked Jim, gazing at Gunz with curiosity.
“I was saying that it’s time for me to go,” replied Gunz, pointing at his watch. “I still have a few things that I need to take care of before I go for my next Taekwondo training tonight. Unfortunately, last night after the fight with the first pack of volkolaks, I left my car in the parking lot in front of the martial arts school. So, I have to use Uber all day today. It slows me down a bit.”
“What do you need to do?” asked Jim, opening the door for him.
“The volkolaks destroyed my backdoor and broke the kitchen window,” explained Gunz, maneuvering between the desks. “I need to go to Home Depot and get a new door and glass to install. And then I need to place the spell on all the new stuff to make everything fire-resistant. Luckily I learned how to do it myself and I don’t need to ask a Master of Power for help.”
“You can install a new window glass on your own?” asked Jim, his dark eyebrows rising.
“Yeah, I’ve done that a few times. I can do it on my own.” Gunz smirked. Jim seemed to be more shocked by the fact that he could do a handyman’s job than that he knew how to place his own fireproofing spells that were normally performed by the Masters of Power.
“Fine,” said Jim, shaking his hand. “At least bring me your receipts for the Home Depot shopping and for your use of Uber. Let the Bureau reimburse your expenses.”
The elevator door opened with a soft hissing sound and Gunz walked inside. “Thank you, Jim,” he said, giving Jim a quick nod as the elevator door closed.
~ Zane Burns, a.k.a. Gunz ~
Installing a window and a new door ended up being a lot harder than Gunz expected and quite a few times he cursed Eve, her volkolaks and everything else associated with any dark magic. By the time he finished with the installations, made everything fire-resistant and cleaned up the mess, he hardly had enough time to take a shower and call Uber.
Ignoring the unusually talkative Uber driver, Gunz checked his watch. The traffic was heavier than usual, and he was running late for his training. Oh, shit… Aidan is going to skin me alive for being late. It’s not like he was gentle with me before, he thought, staring at the bumper-to-bumper traffic ahead. Next time I see Kal, he better teach me how to teleport.
As soon as the car stopped in front of the martial arts school, Gunz threw a few bills into the driver’s hands, grabbed his bag with equipment and ran inside the building. Gunz opened the door and bowed before entering the dojang. The training already started. As soon as he stepped on the floor, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him, some with surprise, some with sarcastic smirks, and only Tessa’s face lit up with a friendly smile.
Aidan McGrath strolled across the floor, his expression betraying no emotions, and halted in front of him. Gunz braced himself for his usual snide remarks, but still gave him a traditional Taekwondo bow, showing his respect.
“I’m sorry, I’m late, Master McGrath,” he said calmly. “My job responsibilities held me longer than I expected, sir.”
Aidan stared down at him for a moment but then smiled. A smile coming from Aidan McGrath? Gunz wasn’t sure if it was a good thing for him or a bad one.
“Don’t be late again,” Aidan said calmly, returning his bow. “Join the training, Zane. Let’s don’t keep the team waiting.”
That can’t be good, thought Gunz, stepping in line with Instructor Uri, I’m sure he’ll show what he really thinks during the training.
But it didn’t happen. It seemed that Aidan made a hundred-eighty-degree turn. He treated Gunz just like everyone else, with patience and respect. The only thing he noticed was that Aidan kept Tessa as far away from him as he could. Through the duration of the two-hour long training, he wasn’t able to exchange a word with her. After the training was over, Aidan pulled Tessa into his office and when Gunz was leaving, they were still there.
To Gunz it was obvious that Aidan had feelings for Tessa. The way he looked at her, and the way he reacted when Gunz told him that Tessa was attacked by an upir and was in the hospital. Mighty Master McGrath was wearing his heart on his sleeve and anyone with eyes could see how he felt about Tessa.
Anyone but him and the object of his affection, thought Gunz as he walked to his car.
What wasn’t clear to him was why Aidan thought that he was a threat. Tessa was a nice girl and he had to admit that he would like to have her as a friend. But he knew her for too short of a time and there couldn’t be anything between them except friendship. He never gave Aidan any reasons to think otherwise.
He sat down in his car and pushed the start button, thinking that he was done with Uber forever. The engine screeched and with a loud bang, the car jerked and fell silent.
“What the hell?” mumbled Gunz and pushed the start button again.
The engine barked, something clapped and banged inside the car and a light white smoke swirled up from beneath the hood. Gunz cursed quietly, slapping his hand on the steering wheel and pushed the button to open the hood. As soon as the hood popped open, a cloud of white smoke puffed up and hung above the car.
He walked around and waved his hand to get rid of the hot cloud. He peered inside, checking for any visible defects but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“God damn these new cars,” he muttered closing the hood, “nothing is visible from outside.”
The car wasn’t even hot. It was sitting on the parking lot doing absolutely nothing for over twenty-four hours. Where did this hot smoke come from? He decided to try again. As soon as he pushed the start button, the whole car jerked, something knocked loudly under it and clanked inside.
Gunz pulled his cell phone out and punched in the AAA number. At least he got lucky with that. There was a AAA truck not too far away and his wait time was only fifteen minutes. He sat inside the car with his eyes closed. He wasn’t sleeping, just tired and frustrated. When the AAA driver knocked on his door, he jolted up, hitting his head on the ceiling. He gave the driver the address of his mechanic’s shop and watched the tow truck leaving the plaza with his vehicle.
At first, he was going to call Uber again, but as soon as he turned his phone on and saw the icon of the Uber app, he changed his mind. He didn’t think that right now he could tolerate another long drive with another chatty driver or talkative people.
Gunz jogged around the school to the small parking lot in the back and quickly surveyed the area. There was no one here. The parking lot was dark and pleasantly empty. He waved his hand, opening the fire-curtain of his portal and walked through it, counting seconds to the moment when he could finally lie down and close his eyes.
He walked out of the portal and yelped in pain. Instead of standing in his own backyard, he found himself in the middle of his neighbor’s swimming pool, up to his chest in cold, well-chlorinated water. At the touch with the cold water, his whole body got twisted with dull pain and as if that wasn’t enough, an electric shock struck through him, making all his muscles spasm.
Mishka rushed out of his watch and was hovering over him, angrily spitting fireballs in his direction.
“What’s wrong with you, Salamander!” he yelled, hopping up and down over his head. “Decided to go for an evening swim without taking your watch off? Don’t you know that water hurts?”
Gunz exhaled and didn’t say anything, slowly moving toward the edge of the pool. His skin was burning at the touch with the cold water. He was exhausted, drained and pissed, so he put all his efforts into keeping his cool and controlling his power. He finally made it out of the pool and stood still for
a moment, water dripping down off his shivering body.
Slowly he made it out of his neighbor’s backyard and crossed over to his own. He mumbled a quick spell checking his wards and protection spells and walked inside the house. After he locked the door, Gunz re-enforced his wards, making them stronger and rushed upstairs, where he stripped all his soaked clothes off, dropping them on the floor in a wet pile. Standing absolutely naked in the middle of his bedroom, he channeled some fire, heating up his skin. The water slowly evaporated, surrounding him with soft swirls of hot steam.
Mishka materialized in the bedroom and sprayed him with fire. At the touch of his element, Gunz sighed and relaxed. At least the nagging pain was gone. He picked up his pants, dripping with water and pulled out his wallet, cellphone and FBI consultant badge. His cellphone was fine, thanks to the waterproof case, but everything inside his wallet and his FBI badge were soaked with water.
He cursed again and dropped down on the bed, hiding his face in his hands. How did he manage to open his portal to a wrong location? Thank God, no one saw him. It never happened to him before. He couldn’t count how many times he opened a portal to his backyard and he never missed the right location even by a foot. Something wasn’t right.
“Why don’t you relax, boss,” said Mishka peacefully, landing on his shoulder. “Don’t take it hard. Happens to the best of us.”
“Doesn’t happen to me,” growled Gunz, rubbing his temples with his fingers. “It’s just that I’ve been under a lot of stress lately.”
“Sure, you were,” purred Mishka sympathetically into his ear, stroking his hair with his wing, “you just need to try it again and I’m sure you’ll perform just fine. You were opening this portal while you were tired, upset about your vehicle and stressed a little… Plus it was your first time opening the portal in front of me, probably the performance anx—”