“Now, that actually makes the creepy factor a little higher.”
They stepped just inside the door and were hit with the smell of mildew, stale smoke, and other smells Edward preferred not to think about. They had both worked at the hospital long enough that they knew how to cope with terrible stenches, but that didn’t make them any less unpleasant.
Edward drew in his focus to weave a spell to light the inside of the building.
Caitlin produced an LED flashlight from her purse and clicked it on.
Edward glanced at it, then at her.
“I’m a mother,” Caitlin said as she cast the light around the building. “I could survive for three days and supply a modest ER with what I keep in my purse.”
Edward joined her looking around.
It wasn’t large, as factories go. The main floor was open—broken only by occasional I-beam pillars—and littered with debris: both pieces of the collapsed roof and what might’ve once been furniture. The walls were covered in black soot, as was the floor where it was visible. On the few patches of wall unmarked by the fire was graffiti. He didn’t see any obvious massive sources of magic inside, so he turned his attention to the door, door frame, and surrounding area.
“I’ve seen some of those symbols before,” Caitlin said.
Edward turned back and looked where she was shining her light. It was a section of wall that was covered in spray-painted symbols. At first he’d dismissed it as just run-of-the-mill graffiti, indecipherable to most people, but now it looked familiar.
“I think I’ve seen some in your books,” she said and noted one specifically. “That one especially.”
Edward narrowed his eyes and looked the symbol over. It was partially obscured by soot, but he could see a little over half of it. “You recognize it from that little bit?”
Caitlin nodded. “I think so.”
Edward thought back over his books. “Do you remember which one?”
“You’re kidding, right? You should be impressed I recognized it at all, and I’ll note that you didn’t.”
“Your greatness has already been well established.”
“It’s always good to reaffirm once in a while.”
Edward smiled. “You’re amazing. Still.”
He flipped through books in his head, trying to find the symbol. That was a common misconception people had about eidetic memory, or as close to one as actually occurred. He did remember essentially everything he saw and read, but it wasn’t all right at his fingertips. It was a lot of information to keep straight, and sometimes it took time to find what he was looking for.
“Do you remember when you saw it?” Edward asked. “Or what we were doing? Anything to give me some context.”
“I think it was around one of the times we went to the beach—”
“Got it!” he said as the book opened in his mind and the symbol became obvious. He read over the text around the symbol. “I think it’s for—”
“Sightseeing?” asked a familiar voice from behind them.
Edward jumped and turned to see One standing behind him, flanked by two of his suited underlings. He glanced at Caitlin to find she had reacted more calmly. In fact, as Edward was readying a flame spell in his head, Caitlin had already stepped in front of him, her stance loose and relaxed, which he recognized as her fighting stance. He was really going to have to start going to those jeet kune do classes with her.
“Yep,” Caitlin said. “I’m a big true-crime fan; love visiting old crime scenes.”
Edward blinked, impressed with how quickly she’d come up with the lie and how well she delivered it. He almost believed it.
“Interesting choice,” One said. “But even so, this is private property.”
“Private property,” Caitlin said. “Not government property.”
“And is DHS in the habit of arresting people for trespassing now?” Edward asked.
“No,” One said. “But we are in the habit of arresting people for interfering with an investigation.” He looked Caitlin up and down and almost looked impressed. “You were both warned to stay out of this, and as a courtesy we left your memories intact—”
“As I recall,” Caitlin said, “it was Edward’s ward and the threats of a teenaged girl that kept you from taking our memories.”
“You need to leave,” One said. “Now.”
“So do you,” said a deep voice from behind One and his men.
Edward glanced past the number men to see a massively built man with dark hair and eyes and distinctly bearish features. He was accompanied by three others, noticeably smaller and with more of a lupine look to them. Edward saw one of them was wearing a shirt with an old photo of four Native Americans on it that said Homeland Security. Fighting Terrorism Since 1492.
One reached into his suit jacket. “We’re with—”
“Unless you’re reaching for a warrant,” the one in the shirt said, “I don’t care who you are or who you’re with. You’re trespassing, in case the locked gate and barbed wire fence didn’t make that clear.”
“First House?” Caitlin whispered to Edward.
“I think so,” Edward said. “Rugarou?”
One looked the men over. “We’re investigating—”
“A case that was closed more than six months ago,” the bearish man said. “Is the federal government reopening it?”
“Three, Five,” One said, “we’re leaving.” He glanced back to Caitlin and Edward. “Allow me to accompany you back to your—”
“I wasn’t talking to them,” the big man said. “They were invited.”
Caitlin and Edward exchanged a look.
“Stay out of this,” One said to Edward and Caitlin. “You won’t get a third warning.”
“Neither will you,” the big man said.
“Good day,” One said, then stepped past the collection of First House men, Three and Five following him. That was when Edward noticed a girl, maybe in her early twenties, sporting a smile and dressed in clothes that screamed “street kid.” Her features were wolfish too but not as severe as the men’s. As the number men drove off, the girl waved and gave them the finger, which is when Edward spotted the tattoo of a joker card on her forearm.
“You Edward and Caitlin?” the girl asked.
Edward nodded.
“Wraith asked me to look out for you while she was doing something. I’m Marie,” the girl said. “Everyone just calls me Joker.”
“Not everyone,” the big man said.
Joker wrapped her arms around one of his, which was almost as big around as her waist, and hugged it. “This is my big brother. We call him Little Joe.”
“Just Joe is fine,” he said.
“That’s Michael, David, and Billy,” Joker said, ignoring her brother and pointing to each of the others.
“How did she know where we were?” Caitlin asked.
“She didn’t,” Joker said. “But she said you’d probably be looking into things, so I put the word out, and to be honest, a couple of well-dressed white folks tend to stick out in this neighborhood.” She nodded at Caitlin. “Especially a redhead.”
“Well, thanks for stepping in,” Caitlin said.
“Ain’t no thing, darling,” Joker said. “But you’re not going to find anything here.”
“Actually,” Edward said, “we saw some magic—”
“That’s our ward,” Joe said. “We purged and cleaned the place of darkness, then put up a ward to keep the mundane people away.”
Edward was about to ask how it was covered in soot if it had been applied after the fire, but he decided discretion was the better course.
“Not that they really needed to be told,” Joker said.
“Were you here when it happened?” Edward asked Joker, then looked at the others.
“No,” Joker said. “Thank God. Ugly mess, it was.”
“Do you know if any of the gangs involved use magic?” Edward asked. “We’re looking into the—”
“The revenants,” Joker said
and nodded. “I figured as much when Wraith started talking about the coroner’s office.”
“You know about them?” Caitlin asked.
“Of course we do,” Joe said. “Just like the Rogue Court, we keep informed about any use of hoodoo in our protectorates, especially when it’s dark like this.”
“To answer your question,” Joker said, “there are a couple with the Royal Skeleton Brigade and the Scarlet Enigmas who can toss a little hoodoo around, but no one with enough mojo to be making revs.”
“I, uh, think they might be getting help,” Edward said. “From a Hellspawned.”
Joker’s smile faded. “Holy shit, seriously?”
“I can’t be sure,” Edward said. “But I have a strong suspicion.”
Joe said something to Joker and the others in what sounded like French, but Edward had trouble making it all out. But he did clearly hear the word possession.
“That’s my thinking too,” Edward said, “that whoever is doing this might be controlled by the Hellspawned.”
The group of First House rugarou looked at him.
“You speak Acadian?” Joker asked.
“French,” Edward said. “And a few others, so I didn’t understand everything you said, but enough to get the gist.”
“You think you can find the person doing this?” Joe asked.
Edward looked at Caitlin.
“Maybe,” she said. “We want to try.”
“Why?” Joe asked.
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Caitlin said and pressed herself close to Edward, taking his hand in hers. “And because we personally know what it means to have the help of strangers when you need it most.”
“But we don’t want to step on any toes,” Edward said. “I just don’t want someone who might not be in control to be locked up somewhere by—”
“A nameless, faceless, heartless government shadow group?” Billy asked.
“I was going to say ‘people who might not care so much,’ but what you said works too,” Edward said.
“You won’t get anywhere talking to the RSB or SE,” Joker said.
“But we might,” Joe said.
Edward looked at the big man’s smile and thought he could probably get information from a comatose boulder.
Caitlin reached into her purse and retrieved a notepad and a pen, scribbled something on it, then handed it to Joe. “This is my cell number. If you could let us know if you find anything, or if we can help, I’d consider it a personal favor.”
Everyone gave her a look.
“And yes,” Caitlin said, “I’m well aware what that means.”
Joe took the paper, nodded, then gave his number to Caitlin. “You’ll do the same?”
“Of course,” she said.
“Thank you again,” Edward said and offered his hand.
“My pleasure,” Joker said, stepping in front of Joe and taking Edward’s hand. “Wraith was right—you two are pretty cool.”
Edward and Caitlin walked back to their car.
“So that’s what a rugarou looks like,” Edward said.
“Joker and Joe weren’t wolves,” Caitlin said, “though the others might be.”
Edward nodded. “From what Wraith said, it sounds like the legends focused on wolves, but many cultures had all kinds of shape-shifters.”
“Joker said Joe was her brother,” Caitlin said. “Do you think she meant that literally?”
“No idea,” Edward said. “I missed the day my genetics professor went over shape-shifters.”
Caitlin stuck out her tongue.
Edward smiled and opened his door to get in the car. As he did, he noticed a girl a few houses down. She was standing on a narrow porch watching them intently. She was young, maybe fourteen, her dark hair in long cornrows and her dark eyes far too keen and weary to belong to a teenager. They reminded him of Wraith’s eyes.
“I’m not sure what would be worse,” Caitlin said as Edward slid in behind the wheel and started the car. “Being a kid living so close to a tragedy like that or being the parent of one.”
“I hope neither of us ever has to find out,” he said as he pulled away.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Wraith stepped out of the universal junction point and into a narrow alley in the French Quarter.
“What the—” a surprised voice said.
Wraith spun around and saw two rough-looking men going over the contents of an obviously stolen purse staring at her. She lifted her hand and pointed it at one, but before she could get a shot off, one of the two charged her and knocked her back against the wall. Her head bounced off brick, and the world spun for a moment.
“Where the hell did you come from?” the man asked, then punched her in the stomach.
The blow knocked the wind out of her, and she doubled over, gasping for air.
“You got down the wrong alley, chere,” the other man said and punched her in the face.
She fell to the ground and drew in a full, deep breath of air that reeked of urine and sewage. The first man drew back to kick her, but she rolled away, bringing her hand up when she came back around.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!” she shouted and sent blast after blast at her attackers.
Her aim was horrible, but the alley was narrow, and she’d let loose a lot of blasts. The two men were tossed backward amid a cloud of pulverized brick, smacking the wall as they tumbled.
She got to her feet, using the wall to brace her unsteady legs.
The two muggers groaned and tried to get to their feet.
Wraith wiped her mouth and saw blood on her hand. She took a deep breath and cleared the cobwebs from her head, then she drew in power and stepped to the two kindly gentlemen.
“Ass! Holes!” she said and kicked at one, packing some kinetic force behind it. She’d aimed for his literal ass, but her aim was off too, and she caught him in the balls.
The man lifted from the ground nearly a foot, then fell back into a crumpled heap, gasping for breath, his hands over his groin.
“No, please,” the other man said, one hand covering his family jewels, the other up in a placating motion.
“I still owe you,” Wraith said and punched him, her arm propelled with more force than a heavyweight boxer and her fist wrapped in super-dense bosons. There was a snapping sound as the bastard’s jaw broke, and he fell back, unconscious. She glanced at the other, but he was still crying in a fetal ball, cradling his nuts.
Wraith stumbled back, collected the purse and what she presumed were its discarded items, then staggered to the locked gate. A simple equation popped it, and she stepped out onto the sidewalk. A few blocks later, she found a cop, handed him the purse, and told him where he could find the two who’d taken it. The cop looked like he was going to protest when she turned to leave, but he didn’t. Another couple of blocks later, and amid a growing crowd of tourists and partiers, she leaned against the wall and collected herself. When her head stopped spinning, she took out her phone and checked on Edward’s location with the tracking program. It was at the hotel, which was a relief. Hopefully he and Caitlin had a less exciting afternoon than her. Even so, she was going to have to thank Joker for keeping her eye on them while she was out of pocket.
“What the hell happened?” Caitlin said the moment she saw Wraith.
She, Edward, and Henry were sitting in a booth of the hotel bar. Wraith walked over and slid in next to Caitlin.
“You should see the other two,” Wraith said, then picked up Caitlin’s beer to take a drink.
“Two?” Caitlin said, taking the beer from Wraith and handing her a glass of water.
Wraith looked from the water to Caitlin and back, then pressed the cold glass to her cheek. “They surprised me. They were in the alley I stepped into. Surprised them too, I think.” She laughed a little. “Come to think of it, they really did get the worst of it.”
“Let me have a look,” Caitlin said and moved to examine her.
“Appreciate it,” Wraith sa
id. “But I’ll be fine. I’ve had worse.”
“Humor me,” Caitlin said.
Wraith let out a sigh, set the glass down, then turned to Caitlin.
“It’s going to leave one hell of a bruise,” Caitlin said after a moment, then touched Wraith’s temple, just below her hairline. “Probably here too.” She pulled out a key chain and used a small light on it to check Wraith’s pupils. “It doesn’t look like you’ve got a concussion, but I’d feel better if you went to a hospital. Is your vision okay?”
“Yes,” Wraith said. “I see all four of you just fine.”
Caitlin narrowed her eyes.
“I’m fine,” Wraith said.
“Can I, uh, get you anything?” the bartender, whom Wraith hadn’t even seen walk over, said.
“Vodka on the rocks,” Wraith said. “Triple.”
The bartender opened his mouth.
“She meant to say ‘Coke,’ ” Caitlin said.
“Spoilsport,” Wraith said.
“Okay,” Edward said. “Now that George Foreman over there is—”
“What’s the grill guy have to do with—?”
“He was a boxer,” Caitlin said to Wraith.
“Oh,” she said. “You’re a funny one, Doc.”
“You sure you’re all right?” Henry asked.
“Geez,” Wraith said. “Now I’ve got three moms?” She looked at each of them. “They got in a couple of lucky shots, but I’m fine. If I wasn’t, I’d tell you. Honestly, it’s kind of surprising something like this hasn’t happened before. I need to be more careful about where I step into.”
“I’m glad you see that,” Caitlin said.
“One Coke,” the bartender said and set the glass down. “Anything else?”
Wraith began sucking down the sugary, caffeinated glass of caramel-colored perfection.
“We’re good, thanks,” Edward said.
“Refill?” Wraith asked after polishing off the last of the soda.
The bartender took her glass and walked away.
Everyone looked at her.
“What?” she asked. “I’m thirsty, it’s hot out there, and I’ve been working.” The bartender returned quickly, set her refilled glass down, then walked away. Wraith took a sip, then looked at Caitlin and Edward. “Did you get anything useful from Mama Toups?”
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