Mortal Imperative: An Alastair Stone Urban Fantasy Novel (Alastair Stone Chronicles Book 24)

by R. L. King

  Kolinsky gave him a look, but didn’t answer. “The point is, I believed this kind of knowledge to be long since lost. To have it resurface now…that is most concerning.”

  Stone shifted his gaze away. This part wasn’t going to be easy, but it couldn’t be helped. “Yes. Well…there are some things I haven’t told you.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yes. I had my reasons—mostly because I thought the situation had been sorted so I didn’t need to involve you.”

  “But that is no longer true?” Kolinsky’s expression might have been carved from granite, it was so still.

  “Obviously not.” He resumed pacing. “I’ve talked to you about necromancy before—about Brathwaite’s notes we located, and the ones we were looking for recently. But what I didn’t tell you was that…I’ve seen practical examples of it in the current time. Twice, in fact, before this one.”

  “Indeed.” Now his tone was as emotionless as his face.

  Stone sighed, gesturing around the shop, and then glared at him. “You can’t blame me for keeping it under my hat—with all this quid pro quo rubbish you always encouraged, you can hardly expect me to pop by and drop all this information on you, especially since, as I said, I thought it was sorted.”

  Kolinsky flicked his gaze at the item on the table, then settled it back on Stone. “Alastair, I believe I have told you in the past—you do not wish to see necromancy return to the modern world.”

  “Well, that’s the truth. But I don’t think it’s in any danger of sweeping the world. Brathwaite and Burgess Crowther have both been dead for a couple of centuries, and up until recently I haven’t heard any rumors of anyone taking up their mantle. Have you?”

  “I have not. But you say ‘until recently.’”

  “Yes. There’s a woman out there somewhere named Miriam Cheltham—at least that’s what she goes by. I’m sure it’s a fake name. But in any case, remember that box I was looking for? The one that we suspected might contain Crowther’s research?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Well…I think she found it, and managed to put it to use. Either that, or she learned it somewhere else. Because she’s got it working, Stefan. She…” He hesitated as Sharra’s image popped into his mind again. “…She managed to resurrect not only dead humans, but a dead mage. And the mage, at least, had some limited volition and the ability to carry on simple conversations.”

  For several seconds, Kolinsky didn’t answer. He stared straight ahead, still expressionless. “Why did you not tell me this before, Alastair?”

  “I told you: I thought it was sorted. Cheltham’s creations were destroyed, and we were fairly sure we killed her, too. Not certain, though. Not certain enough, apparently. Honestly, I was planning to ask you about her, but…” He spread his hands. “Life got in the way. The last couple months haven’t exactly been calm and peaceful for me. We hadn’t heard anything else about her, so I assumed she was either dead or off recovering somewhere. We might not have killed her, but we definitely hurt her badly.”

  Kolinsky turned to study him. “Do you think this Cheltham woman was responsible for these…stitched abominations?”

  “No idea. She’s in England, and I can’t come up with a good reason she’d suddenly relocate to the southern United States. I suppose she might have popped through the portal, but…why? And what does she—or any necromancer—want with ghouls?”

  “That is indeed a good question. It is possible, I suppose, that she might have taught her techniques to one or more other mages, who either live in the United States or had some reason to be here.”

  “Well…there aren’t any ghouls in Europe as far as I or anyone else have heard. Have you heard differently?”

  “I have not. If there are any there, they have chosen to remain extremely quiet.”

  Stone nodded. “So whoever this necromancer is, if they wanted ghouls for something, they’d need to come here and find them. My current hypothesis involves alchemy. Ghouls regenerate. Perhaps the necromancer is looking for a way to create regenerating undead.”

  Kolinsky didn’t shudder; Stone hadn’t ever seen him do anything so…human. But something in his eyes suggested he was considering it. “That cannot be allowed to happen.”

  “Yes, I got that part already. That’s why I’m here. I thought, since you seem seriously opposed to necromancy in any form, that you might put some of your information network to work to help me gather data to help me find who’s doing this.”

  “I…will do what I can.” He stared down at his creepy onion-thing; its leaves seemed to be moving gently, as if in a faint breeze, despite there being no breeze in the room. “You must understand, though, that my assistance must be limited to research. I cannot help you personally, as much as I might wish to.”

  “I get that too. And I assume the other dragons are under similar constraints?”

  “They are, yes. Not that many of the others would help.”

  “Is this hatred of necromancy a you thing, or a dragon thing?”

  “It is a civilized being…thing.” Kolinsky’s thin lips twisted around the informal phrasing. “It is not something that should ever exist—and certainly not in any widespread form. I will do what I can to aid you, within the limits I have put forth.”

  “Thanks, Stefan. Even with those limits, it’s good knowing I’ve got you working on this. Between you and Eddie, hopefully you can come up with something I can use.” He headed for the door. “Good luck with your…whatever the hell that is. Any chance you might let me take a look at it?”

  “Doubtful.”

  He chuckled. “Never hurts to ask.”

  17

  Grider called him shortly after he returned home. “I don’t have much for you, unfortunately.”

  “Did you talk to Lu’s employer?”

  “No, but I did talk to one of his coworkers. I pretended to be an old friend looking to reconnect.”

  “Does he still work in an emergency room?”

  “Yeah, in Chattanooga. I dropped by in the middle of the day when things were slow. The guy told me Orville left kinda suddenly—said he had a family emergency he had to deal with, and didn’t know when he’d be back. Apparently he had a ton of vacation time saved up, so nobody’s suspicious that he’s missing.”

  “Hmm. So it was like Belmont and his dog—he did let someone know he’d be away.”

  “Yeah. I guess he figured it would look suspicious if he just disappeared. I’m not sure how long it would have been before anybody missed Chris, since he did freelance stuff. And Maisie…she was practically a hermit. I don’t even know if she had a job. How is she, by the way?”

  “Verity said she’s settled in with Tani, so I assume she’s fine. I need to talk to them later today, but likely she’d have called me if anything was wrong.”

  “Good. At least one of us made it out of here.”

  Stone didn’t miss the bitterness in his tone. “Are you all right, Grider?” he asked gently.

  “Me?” Grider snorted. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m not the one who disappeared. I figure if they wanted me, they’d have come after me already. And if they try to touch Laura, I’ll blow their fuckin’ heads off.”

  “I’ve no doubt. Speaking of—did you ever determine if anyone else was missing?”

  “Far as I know, no. I checked with our original group, and everybody else is here. I asked ’em to check with their friends in the other group. I’ll let you know if anything turns up.”

  “Thank you. For now, I’ve got a few more angles to investigate.”

  “Still not completely sure why you’re doin’ this, but I’m glad you are.”

  Verity texted later that day.

  You want to have dinner tonight? J and A can’t meet till this evening. Busy with case.

  Sure. Where?

  How about your place? Easier for everybody to get to. I can come early and cook if you want. I’m having kitchen envy.

  Sure. Send me a list of what you need and
I’ll make sure it’s here.

  You got it. Did Kolinsky have anything helpful to tell you?

  Not yet, but he’s looking. He hates necromancers more than we do, and that’s saying something.

  That’s…good, I guess. See you tonight!

  Verity arrived early so she could get dinner started, and Jason and Amber showed up an hour later. As if by unspoken agreement, nobody brought up the subject on everyone’s minds until they were seated at the table, enjoying good wine and mushroom risotto. Raider paced around their feet, but didn’t try jumping up.

  “So,” Jason said to Stone, “I hear you’re up to your neck in another mystery.”

  Stone shot Verity a questioning glance.

  She shook her head. “I haven’t told them anything yet. Figured it was up to you to decide how much you wanted to reveal.”

  “Hrm. Yes.” He hadn’t thought this part through—as much as he would value Jason’s and Amber’s insights into the situation, getting them would mean telling the two of them about the ghouls. He wasn’t sure if it was amusing or disturbing that he was into this situation so deeply that he’d managed to forget not everybody was on board with the concept of civilized flesh-eaters.

  Jason frowned, his brow furrowing in suspicion. “Something going on here, Al?”

  “Well…yes.”

  “You want to tell us about it? That’s why we’re here, right?”

  “It…is. But some of it’s going to require a bit of…” He hesitated, searching for the right word. “…understanding on your part.”

  “Understanding?” Amber asked. “What’s that mean? Did you do something you’re afraid we’ll object to?”

  “Me personally? No. But some of the people involved have, depending on how you think about it.”

  “You’re not making sense,” Jason grumbled. “Come on—either you trust us or you don’t.”

  “It’s not about trust,” Verity said. “It’s about…something you’re going to find pretty distasteful. I know I do. I know Doc does.”

  “I do,” Stone agreed. “Absolutely. But once I tell you about it, I need to know I can trust you to keep it to yourselves, even knowing you won’t approve.”

  Jason and Amber exchanged glances. “That’s pretty vague,” Amber said finally. “Are you talking about committing crimes?”

  “Yes. With…extenuating circumstances, though.”

  “What’s that mean?” Jason demanded. “What kind of crimes? Murder?”

  “No. Not murder. The crime in question is distasteful but…victimless.”

  Once again, the two of them looked at each other. “Just tell us,” Jason said. “Not like it’s the first time you’ve done something I’ve had a hard time condoning.”

  Amber nodded. “We’re not law enforcement, so it’s not like we’re going to turn anybody in or anything. If you want our help, we need to know the details. I’m assuming this is something supernatural, right? Or you wouldn’t care enough to get involved.”

  “It is.” Stone relaxed a little. Jason’s overdeveloped moral compass could be problematic sometimes, though he admired his friend for standing firm on his convictions. It wasn’t easy to do that when surrounded by the traveling freakshow that frequently intersected with his life. Amber’s pragmatism had already done a lot to help him make his peace with the whole thing.

  “Okay,” he said, taking a big swallow of wine for fortification. “I can’t tell you everything, because I can’t put certain people at risk. But I can tell you enough to be getting on with, and hopefully you’ll have some ideas.”

  “Let’s hear it,” Jason said, and looked at Stone expectantly.

  Stone wanted to pace, but he resisted the compulsion. “Right. Here goes. Ten years ago, shortly after I first moved to this area, there were a series of murders. The press called them the ‘Cannibal Killers.’ You might have heard of them, if you follow old news. It was a fairly big story at the time.”

  Jason frowned. “You know, that does kinda ring a bell. I was down in Ventura at the time, but the story was weird enough that I noticed it. Something about people getting killed and partially eaten in remote areas up here, right?”

  “Yes, exactly.”

  “I don’t remember what ever became of it. Did they catch them?”

  “They were killed in a house fire. Not far from where you live, actually. The Santa Cruz mountains near Felton.”

  Amber’s expression sharpened. “Wait. Why do I have the feeling you’re about to tell us you were involved with this somehow?”

  “Because I was.” Stone nodded approval. Amber was sharp. Jason was too, but his wife didn’t have his baggage weighing her down. “In fact, if you were to go back and examine the news stories at the time, you might even find my name in there somewhere. I happened upon the killers while out for a run. They were attacking a couple in a park in Palo Alto. I managed to drive them off, but not before they fatally injured the man.”

  Jason let his breath out. “That’s pretty horrible. That must have been hard on you, seeing that.”

  “It was. Remember, I was much less…shall we say, adventurous?...in those days.”

  “You were in your hobbit period,” Verity said with a grin.

  “Well…yes. I had other things on my mind at the time. But in any case, I did get involved, and I helped track the killers.”

  “I was about to ask you why you were telling us this,” Jason said. “But I think I get it. This was the supernatural part, right? The killers—how many of them were there, anyway?—weren’t exactly normal humans.”

  “You’re correct. There were four of them, and they were ghouls. A particularly rare subtype of them.”

  “Ghouls?” Amber’s eyes widened. “You mean like flesh-eating monsters?”

  “They’re not monsters. Well—that lot was, but as I said, they were rare. Unique, as far as anyone knows.”

  “Wait,” Jason said suspiciously. “You’re saying ghouls are real? And that there are some of them that aren’t monsters?”

  “There are two other subtypes, both of them also extremely rare. Ferals and non-ferals. Ferals are mindless, little more than animals, and avoid human settlements. They get their sustenance from raiding remote graves.”

  “Sustenance.” Amber’s face twisted in distaste. “You mean human flesh.”

  “Yes. Ghouls must ingest a small amount of human flesh on a periodic basis to remain alive.”

  “Still sound like monsters to me,” Jason said stubbornly.

  Stone studied him for a moment, wondering if he should continue with his story. Jason had been through a lot lately, with Melvin Whitworth’s experiments and the news Verity had dropped on him about his family. Was it fair to add to his stress this soon?

  Verity stepped into the breach. “They’re not all monsters, Jason,” she said softly. “They…do what they do.”

  “You’re defending this?” he asked in shock.

  “Wait,” Amber put in. “Alastair, you mentioned ‘non-ferals’. What do they do? Do they eat human flesh too?”

  “They do.”

  “But how can you be non-feral and still eat people?”

  “They get what they need from other places,” Verity said. “Like hospitals, or morgues. They don’t need much. It’s not like they’re eating a whole person every month or anything.”

  Stone glanced at her, surprised. She’d come around faster than he’d expected. He suspected her revelation about Tani and her recent conversations with Maisie might have contributed more to that than anything he’d said.

  “You mean they raid hospitals? Break into caskets?” Jason was still looking like he couldn’t believe he was hearing this—not only that such things existed, but that his sister and his best friend were talking about them like they were normal.

  “No.” Stone took a breath, and another swallow of wine. “They live in small colonies. There aren’t many of them in the country—only three I know of. And they’re highly organized. They have…
systems in place to help them get what they need without harming anyone.” Stone looked down at his risotto. It hadn’t registered on him that Verity had chosen to make a vegetarian dish tonight until now, and he wondered if it had been on purpose.

  “Systems.” Jason dropped his fork on his plate.

  “Are you saying they make deals with people on the inside?” Amber asked. “Doctors…funeral home workers…”

  “Yeah,” Verity said. “Or else they get jobs there themselves. Trust me—I know what you’re feeling. I went through the same thing a couple days ago when I first found out. But then…I met a couple of them.”

  “You met the ghouls?” Jason demanded.

  “A couple of them, yeah. Jason—they’re people. If you didn’t know what they were, you’d never know it. I’m not kidding. They look like everybody else out there. They have jobs, and lives, and normal stuff they care about.”

  Jason appeared only now to be catching on about the vegetarian meal too. “I…don’t know what to say,” he said in a dull tone.

  Amber covered his hand with hers. “I have a feeling we’re going to find out there’s a lot of stuff out there in the supernatural world that we don’t know about,” she said gently. “And that we’re not going to be too comfortable with.”

  His gaze came up. “You didn’t know about this, did you? Have you ever met one of these…ghouls?”

  “No. No idea. Before I met you, I barely knew about anything outside the shifter world. A couple low-powered mages, but that’s it. But…it makes sense, doesn’t it? Think about it—you can get your mind around people who can throw fireballs, or people who can change into bears. You don’t think that’s all there is, do you?”

  For a while, he didn’t answer. Stone, Verity, and Amber all remained silent, letting him work through it.

  Finally, he let out a loud sigh. “I guess. Just one more thing, right? People who eat people.”

  “…are the luckiest people…” Verity sang softly with a twinkle in her eye, but stopped when he glared at her. She sobered. “Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood. But…are you okay with it, Jason? Because that’s only the beginning of this whole thing.”