She frowned. “And we were doing so well for so long. I knew it wouldn’t last. This is why I needed you to learn quickly. What do you plan to do?”
I realized I only had one lead. “We didn’t get to question Ruth Westerhouse, so I’d like to do that. Later tonight, I’m going to go by her house and pick up that box she dragged out back if it’s still there. I’m not going to let the garbage men beat me to it, that’s for sure.” Maybe I had two leads.
“Be careful. You never know how much dark energy could be inside that thing. Be very careful when opening it. If you are going to open it, that is.”
I hadn’t thought about that. I was just going to rip it open like a wrapped present. Maybe that’s why Ruth Westerhouse had been duct taping it shut? “It’s not even close to a full moon. Who can shift without full lunar power?”
She pondered the question for a moment. “Only higher-up demons from the Red Cavern. You know, the demi-devils or an extremely powerful Chieftains. Let’s see. Spring-Heeled Jack, the Jersey Devil, Vlad Dracul of Wallachia, the Six Bend Serpent, Sabertooth Gilda and Hot Iron Indigo. That’s just a few off the top of my head that specialize in shifting. At least, to the best of our knowledge.”
It was much too early to peg one of the Chieftains of the Order of the Red Cavern as a prime suspect, but way too early to rule them out. I wanted some action in Pittsburgh, but if it were one of the big dogs of dark magic, I would be rendered useless.
I had defeated the two-hundred-year-old warlock named George by pure luck, recklessly using magic. I had learned over the past two years that I couldn’t do that again. I had to play by the rules now. And the book of rules on magic was almost as long as the compendium on magic itself. One thing I had learned, wizards had to read. A lot.
I waited impatiently for the email from Gretchen and for a chance to investigate the dark box at Ruth Westerhouse’s place as my mind churned with fractions of puzzle pieces, not even the entire pieces. Sometimes, a wizard has to construct the pieces before he or she can assemble the puzzle.
Sounds daunting, but on the flip side, if one created the best pieces, manipulating them to his or her advantage, building the puzzle became simple.
We went inside my hole of an apartment, a huge upgrade from the hole back in Prince’s Mountain, but not exactly a castle either. It was a two-bedroom apartment, both on the second floor with a bathroom and a small attic. We walked into the modest living room, couch against one wall, loveseat against another. The rest of the room consisted of a rectangular coffee table, bookshelves and books. Some were in piles on the hardwood floor, but I had a system, don’t you worry.
Alayna held her nose, although the smell wasn’t that bad. Okay, it wasn’t that great either, but I hadn’t figured out what was causing that odor from the basement. Because of the harsh stench, I used the stone basement as a short-term storage facility. Mostly for books. I had a lot of books.
Alayna brushed off the couch and sat down, her purple dress sparkling in the strained sunlight begging for permission to pass through my black shades. I obliged it and opened the blinds a bit.
She suddenly had a worried expression on her face. Alayna never worried. I asked, “Is everything all right or is this just the Lancelot thing again where you stare at me and make me nervous? I saw a movie about a week ago and he had black hair and brown eyes.”
Alayna had told me that she had met Lancelot from King Arthur’s court during her travels. “I’m sorry that you look like him, but you do. Most of the books and movie have gotten it wrong. It’s not just the blond hair and blue eyes, but the strong chin and tight jawline. And then you throw in the broad shoulders and it’s a perfect match. However, that wasn’t what I was doing. We have a problem.”
I was late on rent again. She had every right to tear into me. I tried for a preemptive strike for some sympathy. “Like you and me? I’ll get the money from this work in less than a week. I’ll be able to pay you easier if they would just give me more jobs.” I didn’t think she would ever follow through on the threats. Sure, I was late before. Okay, I was late most of the time, but I always paid. Always.
“It’s not that.” She shook her head and closed her eyes.
I exhaled audibly, relieved.
She took a deep breath and continued. “We have a problem in the Deep Burrow. Or more specifically, Clara Spiritus. Mabon has disappeared.”
“What? How?” I asked in shock.
“Obviously nobody knows. One report.” A look of great disgust came over her face and she buried her forehead in her palm. “One report—saw him entering the Red Cavern.”
I defended my friend. “No. He wouldn’t do that. By himself or was he being dragged in there? Why would he do that?”
She threw her hands up dramatically. “The only reasoning the Gods have come up with is that he was offered more power in the Red Cavern.”
That didn’t make sense. “How can he get more power? He’s already a God.”
“A God among many, and he possibly views himself at the bottom of that totem. There are only thirteen devils that we know of in the Red Cavern. The only line of thinking I can even begin to understand is that he saw more power in being a devil. I really don’t know. It’s all too confusing right now.”
I’d never seen Alayna like this. The one-thousand-one-year-old woman, who would smack me for not saying she was nine-hundred-ninety-nine,(It was like how most women turned thirty about fifteen times.) She had always been in complete control, especially when I was frazzled. She hid it well, but she was clearly—distraught. Her ivory skin had red splotches rising to the surface in random areas and her glistening red eyes looked up at me.
I moved closer and hugged her. More tears went into the collection on the front of my hoodie. The news had rocked me, too. Mabon had accepted me more than anyone else in Clara Spiritus, the home of the Celtic Gods. That’s not to say I wasn’t accepted by the rest of the Gods, but the Young Son had gone out of his way to be nice and joke around with me. I didn’t like where this train was headed.
Mabon had a thorough and advanced knowledge of shifting. He could easily do it without a full moon. I started to get a rotten twisting pain in my belly telling me that this was a powerful demon or rogue god, or a rogue god turned devil. Even worse.
“I got the rest of the stuff you asked for to complete the potion for invisibility,” I hinted.
“You want to make the magic mist today?”
“We don’t have to, but it might take your mind off the other problems right now.”
“I suppose it shall, but I can’t guarantee any success from the state I am in right now. If you want to heat up the cauldron, I need to grab a few things from the kitchen and I’ll meet you up there.”
RELEASE DATE DECEMBER 10, 2017
Cosmic Diamonds (Whitney Powers Paranormal Adventures Book 4) Page 17