Dervishes Don't Dance: A Paranormal Suspense Novel with a Touch of Romance (Valkyrie Bestiary Book 2)

by Kim McDougall

  This new magic wanted to grab things. It wanted to paint the world in its light.

  I reeled as nausea threatened to take me down, then the two warring magics seemed to come to an agreement inside me and the waters calmed.

  I opened my eyes and reached for the mimosa again. All its fronds slammed shut like a dozen tiny umbrellas closing. I felt Errol’s laughter in my mind.

  Before I could react, my widget chimed with a new call, and I saw Dutch’s number on the screen.

  “Gabe isn’t here,” I said in greeting, still distracted by the mimosa. “He’s gone on some errands.”

  “That’s good because I called you, not him.” Dutch’s smooth voice was almost mocking.

  “Oh! You have news from Leighna’s people?”

  “Yes. She’s sending Merrow. Do you have room for all of us to meet there? We need a neutral spot and not public.”

  “Sure, I’ll make room in the gym.”

  “Sun sets at 4:51. We’ll be there by 6:30 to make sure the site is secure before Merrow arrives.”

  I glanced around my sparse backyard and to the bit of the parking lot I could see from this angle. Maybe I should reinforce the wards around the building?

  “And Kyra?” Dutch’s voice broke into my planning. “I won’t be calling for Gabe anymore.”

  “What? Oh. That’s too bad.” I wanted to say more, but Dutch said goodbye and hung up.

  I wondered why they’d broken up again. Gabe had seemed down that morning, but I’d just assumed he was tired.

  His car pulled into the lot and he got out, carrying a bag of office supplies. I wanted to send him home without mentioning Dutch’s call. He’d proven he was a warrior in the battle against the opji, and I would trust him with my family of rescues any day, but he didn’t need to be part of this fight.

  In the end, I left the choice up to him.

  “You don’t need to be involved,” I said.

  “As if I’d let you have all the fun.” He smiled but I could see his heart wasn’t in it. “I’ll make some space in the gym.”

  I nodded and left him to it. Gita’s tea was working its magic, and I felt the need to rest.

  But sleep wouldn’t come and I ended up staring at my window, watching the light shift from yellow to red to purple as the sun set.

  Chapter

  24

  We met in my gym, the part of my building that used to be a garage. I opened the large sliding doors to cool off the stuffy space. The night sky flashed with millions of stars, but no moon. As usual, the streetlight on the corner of my lot flickered, throwing lurid shadows around the yard.

  Mason and Angus arrived first. Dutch drove, but after a brief nod at Gabe, he remained on watch outside the garage. Gabe looked like he wanted to follow him and only his pride was holding him back. Poor Gabe. I’d had my share of relationships that ended before they started. Maybe his feelings hadn’t developed to the point of a broken heart, but it sure was a kick in the ego.

  “It’s hotter than hell’s sweet kiss in here.” Angus strolled into the garage. Mason followed, checking around the dumpster and the side of the building.

  “You think someone is watching?” I asked.

  “No. Maybe.” The stiff line of his shoulders told me he was tense. “That was the point of holding the meeting here. Someone has been snooping in my office. I found a couple of bugs, but you’re not on Gerard’s radar, I don’t think.” He frowned. “We should close those doors, just in case.”

  I nodded and lowered the garage doors. The room suddenly seemed much smaller. I’d set up folding chairs and a card table. Gita brought ice tea. Jacoby had taken to wearing his teddy-bear backpack so that Errol could ride on the bear’s head. The two of them now wandered around the gym, examining old cages and pet supplies I had stored here. Errol wore a silly grin on his face. I think he loved the company, and I wondered just how long he had been alone in that basement.

  Leighna’s advisor, Merrow, arrived by the side door. In her regular form, she was a dark-haired, gray-skinned woman of slight build who moved like a dancer or a gymnast. I’d seen her true fae form when she pulled Leighna from the ruins of the condo after the opji attack. That form was impressive—seven feet tall and covered in scales that looked like armored plates.

  “Your upstairs neighbor is too nosy,” she said. “I had to knock him out.”

  “You what?” I asked.

  “Don’t fret. It’s a simple sleep spell. He’ll wake up thinking he got the best night’s rest ever.”

  I’d have to check on Mr. Murray later.

  An older man sporting a military grade haircut and nondescript black clothes followed Merrow.

  “This is Terry Sato,” she introduced him to the rest of us. “Terry is here for Prime Minister Tremblay.” Tremblay represented the human tribes of Montreal.

  “I thought this meeting was a secret.” Angus scratched his leafy beard. “How can we speak freely with a fae in the room and a human we don’t know or trust?”

  “You think we can trust the alchemists any more than the fae or the humans?” Mason asked.

  Angus scowled.

  “Gerard is up to something,” Mason said. “We don’t know who on Perrot Island is in on it. We need proof that his experiments are against the law and we need witnesses to that proof. Merrow and Terry are here to be those witnesses.” If we were going to take down one of the reigning prime ministers, we’d need consensus among the rival parties.

  “I’m not worried about her,” Angus pointed to Merrow. “I’ve seen her ugly fae ass survive a falling building. But humans break too easily. I don’t want to be blamed if he comes to harm.”

  “I will endeavor to keep myself whole.” Terry Sato bowed.

  “Queen Leighna wants to know what Gerard Golovin is scheming about,” Merrow said. “But I need to be clear. I cannot take part in any illegal activity to obtain that proof. I can, however, follow along and report any findings to the parliament.”

  I looked at Terry who said, “Same. Minister Tremblay has asked for access to Perrot Island for years. The Alchemists always deny him. We would very much like to know what goes on in those labs and what Gerard is up to.”

  “Well then, it’s time to grab the bull by the tail and look him in the eye.” Angus rubbed his hands together.

  Everyone settled on the rickety chairs around the card table.

  “How do we even know that Gerard’s lab is on Perrot Island? It could be anywhere,” said Sato. Merrow cut him off with a wave of her hand and turned to me.

  “First, tell me what crime you suspect Prime Minister Golovin is guilty of,” she said.

  “You first,” I retorted, maybe a bit too harshly. Merrow gazed at me with a noncommittal expression. I pushed her. “There has to be a reason you and Leighna agreed to this. Why are you here?”

  The room was silent while Merrow and I played chicken. I gave in first, but I turned to answer Sato’s question.

  “I’ve been to his office behind Abbott’s Agora. It’s too clean to be his real workspace. I suspect he keeps it only as a meeting place. But I found something interesting there.”

  I passed the pillbox across the table. Merrow raised an eyebrow when she saw it. I suspected her keening power was at least as good as mine, and she would feel the absent space in the natural web of magic left by the box. She reached for it and flipped open the latch.

  Her eyes widened as she held the stone between her finger and thumb.

  “Abomination!”

  “What is it?” Sato leaned in to get a better look. Without a thaumagauge, none of the others could sense the life-magic coming off the stone, except for Errol, who stood over the box, glowering. He held his walking twig like a weapon, ready to attack anything that might manifest from the stone.

  “It’s a bloodstone, freshly made. It holds the spir
it of a person, probably fae,” I said, then I addressed Merrow. “How many fae have gone missing in recent months?”

  She pursed her lips as if trying to hold in the answer. “Many. Too many.”

  “What?” Sato turned to her. “Why haven’t we heard about this? What’s Hub doing about it?”

  “They’re looking into it. Quietly.” Merrow’s eyes flashed.

  “Because you suspect someone high up the chain is responsible. Is that right? Maybe someone as high as a prime minister?” I asked.

  Merrow nodded once and put the stone back in the box.

  “I found a whole jar of these in an alchemist’s office in Abbott’s Agora. She got them from Gerard Golovin.”

  Sato paled. “So it’s true then. I didn’t want to believe.”

  “We must destroy those stones.” Angus banged his knobby fist on the table.

  “You can’t!” Sato said. “If what you say is true, then those stones are the spirits of dead fae.”

  “Exactly,” Mason said. “And the only way to set them free is to destroy the stones.”

  They argued the ethics for a few minutes while I watched Merrow work through the implications of the existence of a whole jar of bloodstones.

  She turned to me. “Tell me again about this creature, you saw.” Her quiet command broke through the argument and everyone else fell silent. “It wasn’t really a golem, was it?”

  “You should know. Didn’t you see it?” I asked. Surely, Leighna’s top advisor would have influence enough at Hub to poke her nose into any case she wanted.

  “The body was cremated before we could examine it,” she said tightly. “Just tell me what you know.” Merrow had only two expressions: non-committal and angry. My questions were pushing her toward the latter.

  “It wasn’t a true golem. At least I don’t think so.” I told her about visiting Maeve’s house after she disappeared and how the magic signature of the golem was too distinctive to miss.

  “Someone kidnapped her and used her spirit to animate that thing.”

  “To what end?” Sato asked. “Are they building an army?”

  “More like a workforce,” Merrow said.

  “I think so too,” I said. “Gerard’s new gencrew give off the same vibe. He’d have everyone think they’re some fancy new technomancy, but I believe he’s creating these golem-gargoyle hybrids to use as slave labor on his rail line.”

  “That won’t stop the protesters,” Sato said.

  Mason stood and started pacing. “No, but it will limit the number of lives lost if there’s another cave-in. And speed up the construction. He needs to get the work done before those protesters gain any real traction.”

  “So, he’s been making these creatures from the souls of dead fae,” Merrow said. She tapped her finger on the table. “Now we just need to prove it.”

  Mason attached a ring to a gleam and let it hang in the air. It projected a map of Montreal onto the table. He adjusted it through his widget, and the map zoomed in on Perrot Island, the alchemist stronghold.

  Jacoby curled up at my feet and slept, but Errol was fascinated by the lines that wove through Perrot Island and Montreal. I’d lifted him to sit on the table and he traced lines on the map with his walking twig.

  “What’s he doing?” Merrow asked.

  “Tracing ley-lines, I think.” I got an image of pure bliss from Errol.

  “How did he know that?” Mason asked.

  “I don’t know. He has a strong affinity for magic. I think that’s why he affects the electricity so much.”

  Errol grew bored with the map and sat beside my glass of ice tea, dunking his dirty hat into it and sucking the tea off it like a teat. Ugh. I’d have to get a bodach-sized cup for him.

  “Each of the alchemists have lab space on the island.” Mason pointed to a group of buildings about ten kilometers outside the ward. “The Apex is here.” He indicated the tower with the gemstone that funneled ley-line power into the ward. “Gerard’s lab takes up this entire building. If he’s got any illegal experiments going on, they would be there.”

  “And where is your lab?” I asked. Mason pointed to a smaller building on the western edge of the island.

  “I keep only a small office here. My main lab is at my home.”

  “But we can meet at your office and deploy from there.”

  “Yes. Security won’t be an issue until we get to Gerard’s lab. I’ll be sending you all street views of the site.”

  “So you’re going to what? Break into his offices and steal his lab notes?” Merrow’s eyes narrowed.

  “Yes,” Mason said.

  “And how will you get past the security? There’s bound to be surveillance cameras and electronic locks.”

  “If only we knew someone who could disrupt electrical currents.” Mason grinned and looked pointedly at Errol, who was sucking on the tip of his tea-soaked hat.

  “Okay.” I took a deep breath. We were really going to do this. “Tell me your plan.”

  Ten minutes later, we all sat back digesting Mason’s words. It wouldn’t be easy. Security on Perrot Island was ridiculously tight. Mason’s credentials would get us into Gerard’s building, and Errol would have to disable the locks from there. I could think of a dozen ways this could go wrong. And there was no guarantee we would find hard proof that Gerard was breaking the law.

  A commotion from outside had us all turning toward the side door. Merrow’s fae guard stepped through, pushing Susanna in front of him.

  “This one was spying outside.”

  “I was not!” Susanna jerked her arm out of his grip. “I came to talk to Kyra and I saw she had visitors. I didn’t want to interrupt.”

  “She shouldn’t see us together!” Sato stood up as if ready to fight. “We’ll have to detain her until after.”

  “After what?” Susanna asked. “Until after you break into my boss’s lab?” She grinned, but her face was flushed. “So maybe I overheard a little before this thug stopped me. But what if I tell you that I’m the only way you’ll get inside that lab?”

  The room was silent, except for a grumbled oath from Errol. Susanna seemed cloaked in a cloud of strange energy. It was a stew of contrasting magics, and I was trying to parse it when she pointed at the map of Perrot Island. “And you’re on the wrong track. Gerard’s real lab isn’t on Perrot Island. But I can take you to it.”

  “Why should we trust you?” Angus said.

  Susanna tossed a small bag on the table, then crossed her arms and hugged herself. “Because I brought that as goodwill.”

  The bag held part of her cache of bloodstones. Merrow jumped back from the table. She could also feel the jagged mix of magic coming off the stones.

  Sato opened the sack and frowned. “Are these all…” He couldn’t finish that thought.

  “Souls,” Angus snarled. “Call ‘em what they are. They’re stolen souls.”

  “I swear I didn’t know that when he gave them to me.” Susanna hugged herself even tighter. She looked lost, like her center of gravity had shifted and she couldn’t find her footing. I felt sorry for her.

  “Be clear,” Merrow said. “Who gave those to you?”

  “Gerard.” Susanna’s answer came in a small voice. “Prime Minister Golovin.”

  Chapter

  25

  Gabe wanted to come. I’m not ashamed to say that I played the guilt card with him.

  “If something happens to me, I need to know someone will do right by these guys.” I swept my arm around the room to encompass all my rescues.

  “So you want me to babysit.” Gabe folded his arms across his chest and glowered. He had a good glower. His dark brown eyes really went for it.

  “I want you to promise me that you’ll find homes for everyone, if I don’t come back.” I had no illusions about our escapade that night.
Even with Leighna’s intervention, I could still end up in jail. Or worse. If Golovin found us poking around his lab, and he was guilty of the crimes we suspected, he wouldn’t let us get away to tell the story.

  I sighed and laid my hand on Gabe’s arm.

  “Look. A small party is better for this kind of thing. Angus is staying back too. We’re going in, getting the proof we need and getting out. But I’ll focus a lot better if I know you’re here taking care of things.”

  Gabe wasn’t done with his glowering, but he nodded once. Gita slipped her hand in his.

  “I’ll take care of him tonight. You go play detective. We’ll play scrabble.” She patted his hand.

  “Check her sleeves for spare tiles,” I said. “She cheats.” Gita snorted and pretended to be affronted, but she didn’t deny it.

  “I comes with you, right?” Jacoby tugged on my shirt.

  I knelt to look him in the eye. “Only if you think you can handle it. This will be dangerous.”

  He considered it for a moment then nodded.

  “Good. You have a very important job.” I handed him the backpack he’d been using to cart around Errol. “Once we get inside, you need to make sure Errol gets away safely. You bring him right back here. Gabe and Gita will be waiting for you.”

  Jacoby nodded, but his eyes were wide and scared.

  “Good. We’re heading out,” I said. Gabe only nodded again. Gita sniffled and waved us away. There would be no goodbyes tonight.

  I grabbed my sword from the umbrella stand as I left and walked the few blocks to Abbott’s Agora so I wouldn’t have to park the truck nearby. The others had gone ahead to scout. Susanna went with them because Sato wouldn’t let her out of his sight. Jacoby hopped along with Errol riding on the stuffed bear’s head. They were an odd sight, and I was glad that few people were in the market as we passed through it.

  The old school buildings loomed up like mountains in the moonless night. Mason and Angus waited across the street, watching the Penfield building from the shadows of an old, boarded up high school.