“Jet’s been great, actually,” Millie laughed. “Only one attempted break-in on the catnip jar, so I’d say a winning day so far for him.” A streak of black fur whooshed from the kitchen out back, and came to an abrupt stop on the countertop, between the till and where I was standing. Jet headbutted my arm, rubbing his head as hard as he could manage against my wrist.
“Hi again, buddy,” I said, with a feeling of genuine love. “Heard you’ve made only one heist attempt today?”
“Yep, yep, yep,” Jet jabbered. “Trying to make a new start, you know, boss? Just, like, get a bit cleaner, if you understand me? Yep, yep.” He sniffed. “So, yep, that’s some big kind of insanity, huh? Ol’ Krampus getting two years at Steeltrap? Like, what gives? Wow.”
“Buddy, your guess is as good as mine. David thinks the judge is in Gideon Shields’ pocket. But, we have no proof of that yet.” I shrugged at the zippiest of my cats and gave Midnight a nod. Middie would find out if the judge had dirty hands or not.
“Damn that Shields!” Millie’s eyes narrowed to hostile slits. “When is that snake going to be discovered for what he is?” My assistant slammed her hand down on the counter, rousing an irritable Carbon from his beloved place by the fire.
“I’m trying to sleep,” he grumbled, taking the opportunity of the interruption to stretch his weary muscles. He looked like an inky black elastic band. He bent his head backward to look at us from an upside down perspective and blinked impatiently.
“Sorry, Carbs,” Millie offered. “But, honestly, I can’t wait until the day I see Shields toppled. I’m positive he’s behind a lot more than we know. I just … feel it, you know?” She shook her head. “And now this explosion. Or, bomb, as Carpathia suggested.” My assistant flicked her unicorn hair in undisguised indignation. “Well, I just hope it’s the Custodian’s who are the ones to bring this sleaze-ball down,” she finished.
“Preach,” Eclipse said.
“Yep, yep, we’re gonna bring him down alright, sure, sure. Shields is dirtier than a Mississippi mud bank in spring, yep. Hey, Millie, are you going to tell the boss lady about the visitors, yep, yep?”
“What visitors?” I said, my head swiveling to Jet.
“Okay, Jet, calm down, I was getting to that,” Millie said elbowing my kitty to the side. “Okay, so before the explosion, Hinrika and Verdantia swung by. They were on their way to the Glimmer Mountains. Or rather, uh, Burning Peak specifically. You know, to find a way in … to see if that…. Tia .. tia--”
My impatience broke loose. “Tiamat stone,” I said. Millie nodded.
“Yeah, that thing. They’re trying to get into Burning Peak to locate the stone, is what they said.”
My turn to nod. “Good. I guess we’ll be ready and waiting when the poor sucker who holds the Elder Code tries to get his ‘dragon on’ then,” I quipped.
Millie twirled a lock of her prism’d hair, her eyes glassy and distant. “It’s so insane, huh, Hat? I mean, who’d have thought that an actual, live dragon would be a real threat to these isles?” She chewed on her bottom lip, and whispered, “But, it’s real. The Wyrmrig is about to be reborn. It’s just so … Medieval fairy tale!” Millie flipped her hair in a theatrical swoosh.
“Tell me about it. Who’d have thought the old wives tales would wind up as fact?” I shrugged, but I didn’t feel my inferred indifference. Not even close.
This Wyrmrig character; this mighty, fire breathing dragon, was real. Or, at least he would be real. He was about to be reborn, and we needed to be there, at the source of his birth: aka the Tiamat Stone. Burning Peak was where the stone lay, and this was the location the Elder Code carrier would be drawn to. To fulfill his destiny to become what he was born to become. Wyrmrig.
We needed to get into the heart of the Glimmer Mountains to find that dragon-activating stone, so we’d stand a chance of influencing the beast’s fiery reign right from the point of his birth. If a weapon such as this got into the wrong hands, then who could even imagine the potentially terrifying consequences that would unfold?
But we had a problem. We didn’t yet know who carried the Elder Code. In all likelihood, the carrier probably didn’t know of his fiendish inheritance either. Which presented a quandary. How could we tail the carrier of this dragon-gene to the Tiamat Stone when the holder didn’t even know (right now, anyway) that they were going to make the trip themselves? The owner of the Elder Code’s fate would bloom at the exact time it was due. As you can probably guess, nobody knew when that blooming would occur.
We had only one option. To go to the Tiamat Stone directly. And wait. That’s why my two beautiful faery friends, Hinrika and Verdantia, were on their way there today. To locate the T-Stone, so, when the time was right, we could hole-up there and wait for the dragon-gene holder to show up.
The elven beauties were given this worthy task by the members of their secret guild; the Custodians. A newly formed group of misfits who were largely responsible for the protection of the isles during these crazy, dark times. David was a brother in the Custodians. Goddess, even my kitties were all in this alliance!
I was never invited into this covert brotherhood, though. Apparently, I didn’t ‘embrace’ my inner power enough, or whatever. I don’t want to talk about it. When I think about it, I get like a sullen child. Not pretty.
To counteract my childlike bitterness, I gave Hinrika and Verdantia a prayer of silent well-wishes for their undertaking.
“We missed Hinrika?” Eclipse said, not quite up to date with the conversation. He loved Hinrika Jonsdottir. All my cats did, as evidenced by their collective sigh of disappointment now. The Queen of the Fae had come all the way from the Faroe Islands to serve along side Portia Fearwyn in the Custodians. We needed her in our favor in case any meaningful talks with the Unseelie’s needed to happen. That’s if the Unseelie’s are the suspects we should be looking at. Shields and his Warlock cronies seemed to be creeping malevolently into the picture these days.
Goddess, this was all so confusing.
I turned to ‘Clipsy. “We’ll be seeing Hinrika soon buddy, don’t worry.”
“But, yep, yep. What about the other visitor. Are you going to tell Hattie about the other visitor?” Jet’s paw patted Millie on the arm in a series of rapid taps.
“Oh, Ulrich Darkmore,” Millie began, scratching Jet behind the ears. “He came by not a minute after you left for the courthouse.” Millie reached behind her, pulling something from the ledge of the cash register. “Here,” she said thrusting a business card under my nose. A dull black card, with the words ‘Ulrich Darkmore - Shadow Supplies.’
“Huh,” I grunted, fanning the card. “I nearly did business with Ulrich before,” I said. “But, in the end, I got all the stock I needed from Dilwyn Werelamb. Darkmore is Dilwyn’s supplier, as it happens.”
“Yeah, Darkmore supplies anyone who is someone,” Millie quipped. “You don’t get to be a customer of his, unless you come highly recommended. From someone with clout.”
“Hmm, I wonder if Verdantia had anything to do with this?” I ventured, thinking back to the time when Verdantia had been kind enough to be a ‘guarantor’ on my behalf so I could purchase a large quantity of baneful herbs. Sure, I stocked a whole cabinet full of the deadly stuff, but Ulrich’s storerooms were legendary. I’d heard from someone on Nanker isle that his warehouse was actually an abandoned aircraft carrier. A herbalist needed to jump through hoops to get a contract set up with Ulrich Darkmore’s ‘Shadow Supplies.’
“Maybe Portia Fearwyn?” Millie suggested.
Sure, it would make sense that the commander-in-chief of the Custodians and a strong ally of mine would put my name forward to the Isles most prolific suppliers of all plants deadly.
“He was spiffy, yep, yep,” Jet gushed. “Tall, and big like a big tree. But, a tidy tree, not a messy tree. Fine rags, yep, yep, just fine.”
A prickling sense of familiarity crept at my temples.
“Was he broad shouldered? Tweed flat ca
p, matching tweed jacket?” I asked on a hunch.
Millie was about to answer, but Midnight interrupted, “Was gonna ask the same question, boss-lady,” Middie said. “The guy at the courthouse following the car,” my gossip cat had a paw to his chin in thought. And the man who had gotten Kramp’s wife to sign something just before the verdict was announced.
“Uh, yeah, sounds like him,” Millie said eyeing us both. “Something weird about that?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea. Just odd that he would show up here before the trial offering his business. Out of the blue, no less. Unsolicited is what I mean. And, then he’s at the trial lurking around?” I also put my paw, er, hand, to my chin.
“Hmm. Well, I’m sure there’s likely a reasonable explanation. Probably someone’s just put a good word in for you, Hattie. You’re in the big league now in the apothecary world.” Millie squeezed my arm and smiled.
I returned my friend’s smile and looked at her. I was so grateful for her years of companionship. I loved Millie Midge like a sister. I noticed the balled up paper under Midnight’s paw then. The piece of paper he had in his mouth at the courthouse? “That anything important there, buddy?” I asked, eyeing the paper toy.
“Oh, duh! Yeah, well, no. It’s just...interesting? Maybe?” He pawed the paper forward on the counter, where it came to a rest at Millie’s elbow. I unraveled it.
A prescription. For a brand name drug under the umbrella of drugs known as Digitalin Two tablets twice a day. With food. Patient name Barnabus Kramp.
“Digitalin,” I mumbled. I knew it, it was coming … it was coming--”
“Digitalis! Or, Foxglove!” Millie exclaimed.
“Foxglove,” I murmured at the same time Millie threw out the decibels.
“For heart disease?” My assistant ventured?
“Yeah.” I pursed my lips. “Most likely.”
“Hmmm,” said Onyx.
“Well, interesting, but put it in the bin, buddy. There’s no need for us to snoop around in Kramp’s affairs of the heart.” We all let out a half-guilty snigger.
“I’m sure his doctor will take care of his refills,” Millie said.
A flurry of activity outside the window made me turn my head. The Gless Inlet Para Police division was out in the streets, requesting that shopkeepers close their doors for the day. I was happy to see that GIPPD was taking the incident seriously.
“Go home, Millie,” I said to my assistant. “I’ll lock up here.”
I ushered my friend to the door. She turned to me. “Keep me updated as to what’s going on, deal? You know I’ll help out in anyway I can. I’m not just good for cat-sitting Jet, you know?” Her eyes were earnest.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” I confessed. “Now, get home, snuggle under a duvet and watch a black and white movie.” My head angled to the dark, swirling October clouds overhead, convinced that I should take up my own offer and make some hot chocolate and cuddle with the kitties while Casablanca flashed across the forty-two-inch screen. I’d pretend to watch it, but, really, I’d just be wringing my hands and waiting for word from David.
Chapter Three
I dreamt I was cocooned in a layer of vibrating fur.
No, wait, I was awake, and I had seven cats draped across every available inch of body part I owned. The vibration-explanation became immediately evident by the chorus of comfortable purrs, and the rise and fall of all the furry bellies lying on me.
Early morning light crept rosy through the sheer curtains. I’d slept through the night? I looked at my smart TV, which had taken upon itself to fall into ‘sleep’ mode. Smart.
Wow, I didn’t remember anything past the first ten minutes or so of the movie. I must have been exhausted because I was still wearing yesterday’s clothes.
Blech.
The vibrating became more insistent. I giggled in spite of myself. “Guys, cut it out, it’s tickling.” I shifted in my seat, nearly toppling Eclipse from his personal eyrie on my head.
“Uh, boss-lady,” Shade said, sitting up from his cinnamon swirl position on my lap. “It’s your phone that’s doing the purrin’,” he said, pawing at my illuminated device.
I sat bolt upright, scattering a bunch of irritated felines in my wake. I grabbed the phone.
“David?”
The cats regained their feet quickly and jumped up so they could listen in on the conversation.
“Hat? Look, sorry it took a while to get back to you. Wanted to make sure … well, it’s all safe now. Everyone’s gone home, and it’s all cleared up here. Want to join me down at the site? It’s right in front of Prettykins on Main. You know the dress boutique shop?”
My head hadn’t quite caught up with my friend’s chatter.
“What’s the time?”
“Uh, well, I don’t have a watch on, but my guess is about six a.m,” he said almost apologetically. Deathly-early morning calls were David’s thing, in case you didn’t know.
I had tons of questions battering against the back of my teeth, but I knew better not to ask until I was with him at the site.
“Sure, give me ten minutes?”
“You got it. Gabrielle’s just setting up, bringing in the baked goods, so I’ll pop across and nudge her for a coffee. Get you anything?”
“Coffee. Definitely. And, if there’s an almond croissant on any of those goody-trays, grab me one of them too.”
“If there’s no almond, I’ll ask for cherry danish.”
My breath hitched. I was touched. David knew that cherry danish was my second favorite pastry. Hear that? The man I loved knew what my second favorite baked good was.
“Thanks,” I squeaked, “See you soon.” I ended the call, leaped up and bounded for the bathroom.
I was in there for no more than one minute, when a furry head popped around the door. Eclipse pushed his way in and stared at me.
“‘Clipsy, can’t a lady pee in peace?” I managed from my place on the porcelain throne. My enigmatic cat ignored my question entirely, and instead rested his body against my rumpled up jeans around my ankle. He flopped on his rear end, stuck one of his back paws ramrod-straight into the air and began washing his privates.
“Um, excuse me?” I challenged my cat.
Eclipse’s head came up from his nether regions. “I think I should go with you,” he said, his eyes unreadable. “Not many people on the streets right now. Would be good for you to have a chaperone.” His head bobbed downward to finish his ablutions.
“Uh, well, okay, that’s fine. But, can you just let me finish off my business in peace and wait for me outside?”
“If you’d prefer.” He looked at me but didn’t move.
“Yes. I would prefer,” I said with exaggerated mouth movement.
Finally, my kitty got the message and sauntered out, not looking behind him.
Cats!
I wriggled out of yesterday’s outfit and reached behind me for a towel from the shelf. But instead of terry cloth, my hand touched something warm and furry.
I turned to see Shade, on top of the towel stack, his legs tucked under him in his favorite loaf-of-bread position. My cat smiled at me. “Hey, boss, haven’t seen Midnight this morning. He still out and about?”
“Yes, Shade, he’s gathering intel on Judge Moody.” I reached toward him. “Now, I need a dirty, fur-covered towel for after my shower, so can you please move, and exit the bathroom, and close the door behind you?”
Shade shrugged, hopped off his toweling bed and moseyed out of the room.
I jumped into the shower, tying up my hair in a loose pile on my head. I didn’t have time to tame the mane. Just a quick rinse, throw on some clean clothes and get moving. I nodded my head in appreciation for my hastily formed action plan.
A black paw hooked itself around the shower curtain just as I was reaching for the loofah. Gloom peered at me from around the edge of the curtain.
“I’m coming too,” she stated simply.
“Goddess, alri
ght!” I yanked the shower curtain back. “Just wait for me OUTSIDE, please!” I practically bawled.
Eclipse and Gloom trotted ahead of me to greet the chief.
I saw my friend bend down to give them both a cursory rub on their heads.
David strode toward me, two cups of coffee in his hand, a pastry dangling from his mouth. He pushed a steaming cup and a weighty paper bag toward me.
“Gabrielle came through for you, huh?” I took a sip of the hot liquid, grateful for the deep bodied flavor. Gabrielle was a pro-baker, and Celestial Cakes served the best … well, everything, really. I looked in the bag and saw the cherry danish glistening like food from the Gods there.
“You did well,” I applauded my friend.
David nodded and took a bite of his baked good.
“Wait a minute, is that a hot dog?” I moved my face up to his, not really believing my eyes. A squirt of blended ketch-tard drooled over his bottom lip.
David’s fingers expertly crammed the rest of the offensive street-food into his mouth and nodded vigorously. He chewed like a crazed person.
“Last night’s dinner that I didn’t get around to finishing,” he said around big congealed globules of synthetic bread and plastic sausage. “Didn’t want to waste it.” David dragged a napkin across his face and took a slug of his coffee.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” He asked, his expression genuinely perplexed.
I shook my head. “What did you find?”
David placed his hand on my lower back and steered me toward Prettykins window, and the demolition there.
I saw the wreckage, and for at least a few seconds I couldn’t make sense of it.
Then I gasped.
“Barnabus Kramp’s transport?” I felt my legs give way a little.
“Bombed,” David said, pushing me down hill a little to a patch of grass next to the road. A circle of bright yellow paint marked the lawn here. He pointed to the marked area with his rumpled napkin.
“Here’s where the incendiary device ended up. It must have been flung from the vehicle when the blast occurred.” I looked down at the spot where the ominous grenade had lain.
The Warlock Weapon (Hattie Jenkins & The Infiniti Chronicles Book 7) Page 3