The Stone Warriors: Dragan

by D. B. Reynolds

  “That would be nice,” Maeve agreed, slotting the final flash drive. “Can I ask you something?”

  “You can ask,” Lili said with a knowing grin.

  Maeve grinned back, then said, “In the last meeting—Nico said you were too busy?”

  “Oh, I never go to those things. Way too much talking before anything gets done. Your question?”

  “Right, Casey’s thing with her dad. She clearly didn’t want to go, but Nico and Damian pushed her to do it. What’s up with that, if you don’t mind my asking.”

  “Parents and children,” Lili said, somewhat sadly. “It’s not really my story to tell, but Casey and her father haven’t seen eye-to-eye lately, and her father reached out. Probably the first time the stubborn old man has ever done that. So I guess in the scheme of such family affairs, it’s an important occasion.” She sighed, then studied her screen and asked, “Okay, what do we have here?”

  “I’ve put each drive into a separate folder. We might change that . . .” She spoke thoughtfully as she began to the study the files, her heart sinking with every line. “Well, damn,” she muttered. “This was a fucking waste of time.”

  Lily looked up from her side of the desk. “Why?” she asked, more puzzled than demanding. Probably because they’d barely gotten started.

  “These are the same damn files as on the other computer, and I’ve been through those. Damn it,” she added in a whisper, but continued to the bottom of the list, just in case. “Nope. Nothing new here.”

  “We should open every file, to be sure that the contents match the description,” the other woman reminded her gently.

  “Sure, why not,” Maeve agreed, but there was no enthusiasm in her voice or her heart. It would be a waste of time. She knew it.

  Nearly two hours later, she’d been proven right, though she’d rather have been wrong. “I can’t believe we risked our lives breaking into that place for nothing.”

  “It wasn’t for nothing,” Lili chided, the trace of some accent barely flirting with her words for the first time. “Nick destroyed the monster’s workroom, and acquired more information about the device we seek. That’s a major setback for someone like him.”

  Maeve studied her for a moment. “You called him a monster. Do you know him? I mean, have you encountered him personally, during your work with Nico?”

  “Him and others just like him. Not as powerful always, but just as evil. Trust me, child. They have to be stopped.”

  She blinked at being called “child” by this young-looking woman. Curiosity was a bubble in her chest, threatening to pop. And when it did, the questions would come flying out. She grabbed the water bottle she’d filled earlier and drank half the contents down. Nothing about Nico or his people was ordinary. They all had long, long histories of pain and war. Who was to say that Lili wasn’t another of those? And Maeve had no right to ask about her story, just because they happened to share a desk for a couple hours.

  “You’re right,” she said, looking down at the screen. “He needs to be destroyed, even if it’s only for what he did to Dragan and the others. I just wish—”

  “There’s one more place we haven’t looked, sweet Mae—” She looked up with a twinkle in her eye. “—as Dragan calls you.”

  Maeve blushed, but more from happiness than not. Then she frowned when the substance of the comment hit her. “Where?” she asked, scanning the drive contents again.

  “The trash can,” Lili said with a flourish. “Don’t you watch the crime shows on TV? That’s always where they find the big clues.”

  She laughed, and clicked obediently on the trash symbol. “There’s only one thing in here, I’m afraid. Looks like . . . yep, deleted email. Huh. Not junk either. Let’s see, it’s from someone named AntoniaR62. Just one line, though. ‘Leave me alone.’” She started to laugh again as she looked over to Lili, but found the other woman sitting perfectly still.

  “What was the woman’s name?” she whispered.

  “AntoniaR62,” Maeve repeated slowly. “Why? Does that mean something?”

  “No,” she said briskly. “It just . . . reminded me of someone else, but the number was much longer. Good to know I was wrong.”

  Maeve wanted to pursue it anyway. This Antonia might be nothing more than an old girlfriend of Nico’s, but she couldn’t shake the feel that there was something . . . off, about Lili’s response. Sometimes “nothing” definitely meant something. But it was obvious that Lili wanted her to drop it, so she did.

  “I’ll give it to Nico,” Lili said finally. “If it is Antonia, she’s his problem to deal with, not ours.”

  “You think she’s involved in this?”

  “I don’t,” she said firmly, then made a clucking sound with her tongue. “Now, what other footprints can we follow?” She glanced up. “Do you think he’d go back to the house where you worked, the house by the lake?”

  “Nico already asked that,” Maeve said, burying her curiosity once more. “I told him I didn’t think so, because it’s stuffed with what I call treasures. I’m sure they’re worth a fortune. And Dragan confirmed that there’s a lot of magic inside the house, too. The team decided Sotiris wouldn’t risk losing that magical stuff, on top of what he lost last night. What do you think?”

  “You raise a good point. Let me just . . . I can have someone put in a call to the local police authorities up there. They do have something like that, don’t they?”

  “Yes, of course. The city only has a small police force this time of year, but they add on officers during summer and fall when the tourists arrive. And the police station is close to the house. About five miles, maybe a bit more.”

  “Good. I have someone I can ask to—” She was tapping on her keys again. “—request an official welfare check on poor Mr. Sotiris, who received bad news and hasn’t been heard from. Family is very worried, and so on. There we go. If he’s there, we’ll know soon, and we can let Nick and the others know, too. That would solve the problem of where he is, although in my experience, these things are never that easy. So what else can we try while we wait to hear back?”

  “We can try tracking Sotiris’s car. It’s distinctive, and I know the license plate. If he left the city, he’d have to pass through toll booths and such—”

  “Unless he flew,” Lili added. “And if he’s driving a long distance, we’ll lose him as soon as he leaves the state, if not sooner. I have certain connections I can ask about those sorts of things, but I’d need to give them more than a license plate to go on. It’s a big country.”

  “Right. What if—?”

  Lili’s cell phone rang at that moment, her face showing surprise when she saw who was calling. “Nick?” she answered, then put it on speaker.

  “. . . and we’re moving,” Maeve heard Nick say. “Casey just called from the stadium. There’s something big there, something with a huge magical signature. She and Damian are checking it out, but I’m afraid of what it could be. I spoiled Sotiris’s lair, and now he’s going to kill a lot of innocent people, just because they live in Florida.”

  Maeve glanced up when Grace walked into the room, with a drowsy, “What’s happening?”

  “The guys and Hana are coming with me,” Nico was saying on the speaker. “Grace is staying there with you and Maeve.”

  “Should I warn the authorities?” Lili asked. “Evacuate the stadium?”

  “No. If he’s watching, he’ll trigger it early, just for kicks. And the authorities won’t know what to do with this anyway. Casey’s the best person I could have on the scene with me. With any luck, we’ll get rid of it quietly, with no one the wiser.”

  Maeve heard what sounded like a heavy car door slamming and jumped up in alarm. “Wait,” she said frantically, but he’d already hung up. And when she ran to the front window, she caught only the narrowest g
limpse of tail lights from Gabriel’s SUV disappearing down the street.

  “How can they just leave like that?” she demanded from Lili, as she rushed back into the office.

  Lili didn’t respond right away. Instead, she got up and walked over to Grace. “Come on, darling girl,” she said, guiding her to a couch in the adjoining room. “You can lie down in here with us. This couch is very comfortable, even for someone as tall as you.”

  Grace smiled. “Thanks, Lili. And I’m not that tall. You’re just short.”

  The other woman smiled, as if this was a conversation they’d had before. “Would you like some water, or tea?”

  “I have water. But I will stay in here with you guys, while we wait to hear. Kato will call as soon as they know something. He worries about me.”

  “Of course, he does. And you worry about him, so best we all worry together, yes? I have more chairs if you want to pull up to a computer, but I think the couch is better for you.”

  For the first time, it hit Maeve that Dragan and Kato, and everyone else, were rushing into a stadium that could blow up at any moment. And if it did, they’d be right on top of the explosion. Terror seized her heart, as she glanced at Grace, who had so much more to lose.

  She tore her gaze back, when Lili returned to her computer and sat down. “As for the other,” Lili said softly, giving Maeve a direct look, “they do what they do, because they are born warriors, with a duty to help those who need them. And no one needs them more right now than the families filling that stadium. So let’s you and I do what we do best to help them, yes?”

  Maeve pulled herself together and gave a sharp nod. “Yes. How can I help?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  THE STADIUM’S PARKING lot was packed, no surprise there. But it was no impediment either, as Gabriel drove straight through the gate, ignoring the shouting guard. Under other circumstances, he’d have used his vampire abilities to persuade the guard, but there was no time. Minutes mattered.

  Accelerating through the lines of parked cars, speeding through circle after circle of garish overhead lights, he skidded to a stop at the first stadium entrance they came to, and they all piled out, leaving the SUV standing empty at the curb.

  “Where are you?” Nick was on the phone with Casey, who’d located Sotiris’s device.

  “Second level, Section J.” It was Damian who provided that information, replacing Casey on the phone. “Cassandra’s staring at the thing,” he explained. “Says she needs to concentrate.”

  “Right. She say anything else yet?”

  “Nope.”

  Nick could hear the tension in Damian’s voice. They both knew exactly what would happen if that damn device blew before they could disarm it. Casey would be the first to go. “I’m here, Damian,” Nick assured him. “Only seconds away from you.”

  “Hurry.”

  Nick did, shoving his way past the ticket taker, slamming his hand on the big red alarm button, disabling it with a pulse of magic before the human could sound the alert. “Kato, handle it,” he shouted over his shoulder, without missing a step. Once inside, they all ran for the nearest escalator, taking two steps at a time as they raced upward. And the next one, too. It was dumb luck that Sotiris had chosen a stadium Nick was familiar with. He knew exactly where to find Casey, and the bomb.

  The game was already in progress, leaving the corridor mostly clear as they tore around the endless circle of the concourse. Nick was cursing himself for letting Casey and Damian go to the damn game, but if they hadn’t, all of those cheering people out there would soon be dead.

  “Nico.” Damian’s sharp call had him swerving down a maintenance corridor, the others following in a rush. “Slow down,” the big warrior cautioned, his eyes hooded with worry. Not for himself, but for the woman he loved.

  Nick gripped his shoulder. “I’ve got this, brother. I won’t let anything happen to her.”

  Damian squeezed Nick’s hand, then lifted his chin toward a wide door that was propped open by a large trash can. “In there. She says just you, can’t be sure how stable this thing is.”

  Nick turned as the others crowded around. “Dragan, I want you in the air. Bastard might have stuck around to admire his handiwork.”

  “Stadium’s lit. People will see,” Gabriel reminded him.

  “Anyone who sees him will think he’s a fucking drone, or something else. I don’t care. I need to know if Sotiris is still here.”

  “He’d risk his life hanging around for the show?” Dragan asked, already backing up the hallway toward the concourse.

  “It’s no risk to him. He’ll wormhole out just in time. Sick fucker’s good at running away. Gabriel, you and Hana do something to that door, make it disappear, disable it . . . whatever it takes to keep everyone out of this corridor. Use your vampire mojo if you have to. Kato, I want you back to the house. I’ve got an ugly feeling. . . . I don’t like leaving the three women alone. None of them are fighters.”

  “Maeve can handle a gun,” Dragan offered.

  “As can Grace and Lili,” Nick agreed. “But a gun’s not going to do much good against Sotiris, or anyone he sends against them. Call it intuition. Humor me. Kato, go.”

  The three warriors and Hana strode back up the corridor, while Nick joined Casey in what looked like a big closet. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, her head propped in both hands, which were fisted together under her chin.

  “What do we have, babe?” he asked, sliding down next to her.

  “I’ll babe you,” she snarled, without looking away from the device. “Have a seat.”

  Nick did, sitting just as she was, cross-legged in front of the thing, hands held loose between his legs as he stared at Sotiris’s latest attempt at mass murder. Why the fuck the man had to waste so much power causing death and misery, he would never understand.

  The visible part of the device was exactly as he’d expected after studying the few sketches and discarded parts that he’d found in Sotiris’s workshop. If a human found this, he’d see nothing but a beautiful wooden box, etched with gold designs. Roughly two and a half feet square and eighteen inches tall, it looked like nothing so much as a unique keepsake box, the kind you might once have found in a noblewoman’s dressing room.

  But this was no pretty thing to hold diamonds and rubies. This was death for thousands, if they didn’t figure out how to stop it.

  “What do you see, Case?”

  She was silent for a moment, her attention utterly focused on the device. “Tell me what you know about this thing,” she replied instead.

  “It’s basically a big battery pack for sorcerous power. It’s not explosive in the sense we’re used to. No fuse, no reactive substance, no explosive charge. This is a huge destructive spell waiting to happen, and it’s going to be powered by all that magical juice he’s stored inside it.”

  She nodded thoughtfully. “How’s he setting it off?”

  “My first guess—”

  A very unladylike snort expressed her opinion of guesses.

  “—is a timer, so to speak. It won’t be a digital countdown. That’s too simple. He’ll have timed it to the astronomical clock. When the upper limb of the sun disappears below the horizon, or when the last rays fall into twilight. Something like that. He won’t wait much longer. He’s not a patient man, and he’ll want to see it blow. He’s not doing this for kicks, or not just for kicks. If this works, he’ll sell it to the highest bidder. It’s what he does.”

  “You really do think he’s here, and he’ll blow it remotely.”

  “I wouldn’t put it past him. He had to suspect I’d find out about it, and he won’t want to risk us disarming it before it blows. He’ll just wait for the perfect moment to set it off. When the crowd’s screaming for the home team, everyone on their feet, no one expecting disaster
. That’s when he’ll do it.”

  Casey rocked in thought, tilting an inch forward and back, moving only her torso. “That matches what I’m seeing here. If you x-rayed this thing—and I know it’s not stable enough—but if you could, you’d see nothing inside there. It’s a void.”

  “But it’s not.”

  “No, definitely not. It’s so bright with magic that I have to tone down my perceptions, like putting on sunglasses in order to see details.” She sucked her lower lip between her teeth. “Timer, huh?”

  “Best guess.”

  “Right. What would happen if I took a pick-ax to the top of the box, just smashed it open?”

  “It would explode, or more specifically, the magical power would erupt outward in an uncontrolled burst, and do what magic always does when that happens. Destroy everything it touches.”

  “Uncontrolled,” she repeated.

  Nick paused. “Definitely,” he said thoughtfully. “But what if—?”

  He didn’t get a chance to finish that sentence, because his cell went off when it shouldn’t have, warning that disaster had struck somewhere else.

  KATO STRODE INTO the house from a side door and charged into Lili’s office. “There’s definitely a magic-driven bomb at the stadium. Nico and the others are working on it, but he’s got a bad feeling about what Sotiris might do next, so I’m here for the duration,” he announced.

  With that scattershot of information, he slowed to walk quietly into the other room, where he bent over to kiss the sleeping Grace’s cheek and stroke a hand over her blond hair.

  When he rejoined them, grim-faced and deadly serious, he stood behind Lili, his attention traveling from screen to screen while data flowed from Nico’s widespread security precautions around the house. Lili kept typing, still engaged in the search for Sotiris, while checking the security screens every time she paused.

  “Anything?” Kato asked.