by TR Cameron
Danna swirled the liquid in her glass with a worried look on her face. “Do you think we have more to fear from whoever sent the Kraken?”
“I don’t think we have anything to fear from them or anyone else,” she snapped before she softened her tone and continued. “I see two possibilities. First, they attempted to weaken the Empress in the eyes of the other eight by stealing the knowledge and then by putting it to use in a place she has claimed as her own. The creature’s destination was certainly not randomly selected.” Her second in command nodded. “Second, they are indifferent to the way the Empress is viewed and they actively wish to claim the city for themselves. If so, that should concern us but not instill fear.” She wanted to drive the poor word choice home. It was imperative to keep the proper perspectives on everything and any challenge was simply something to overcome rather than be afraid of.
“And which of these options makes more sense to you?”
She drank the rest of the rum she’d been sipping and set the glass precariously on the padded arm of the couch. “I dislike both. The first is cowardly and the second a threat to our interests. If I was forced to choose, I would guess it was simply a play to weaken the image of the Empress because I can’t imagine any of the nine summoning the initiative for anything more.” She clapped her hands on her thighs and stood. “Fortunately, we don’t need to choose. We’ll plan for the worst-case and hope for the best. Let’s head upstairs and see what’s happening.”
The office was heavily soundproofed, and the raucous music from the main part of the club hit her like a crashing wave as soon as she stepped outside. A local blues band was playing tonight and they laid down a serious groove. She crossed to the bar and took a seat, and her second slid onto the stool beside her. The bartender delivered a tumbler of dark rum to each of them with a stick of fresh fruit as a garnish. She lifted it and pulled a cube of papaya from the end while she surveyed the crowd.
Even without the money from all their illicit activities, the nightclub itself would probably make a profit. It was impossible, at this point, to separate the income streams and the books were entirely fabricated by a team of talented financial liars. But the audience loved the music and the clientele cut across gang lines. While not at all neutral territory since the Atlanteans owned it, the normal conflicts were left at the door. Any outbreaks of violence were squashed quickly and decisively. She watched without speaking for the duration of a song and let the hoarse words and the inspired jam session flow over her.
Usha bent her head to Danna and resumed their previous conversation. “If someone wanted to make a move on our interests in the city, they would have to come at us sideways and catch us by surprise. Otherwise, there’s no way we’d fail to notice them infiltrating the streets. Of course, they might be able to portal a small army in, but we could fade and wait them out. No, it would have to be something else.”
Her subordinate laughed. “There’s enough room there for it to be almost anything.”
She nodded. “True, which is why we’ll need to be on our toes. Let’s pull some of the weakest folks off the distribution team.” They’d kept a much larger than normal presence around the drug trade to protect it from further Zatora attacks. And those human bastards will get theirs soon enough. “Position them throughout the city as lookouts. They must report anything out of the ordinary—cops, Zatoras, other magicals, and especially new Atlanteans in town. Oh, and the damned Leblanc girl and her friends. Choose three or four trusted people to rotate as a destination for the information. If something seems worthwhile, they can bring it to you.”
“I could simply have the watchers contact me directly,” Danna countered.
The leader shook her head. “You’re too valuable to waste on that task. Others of less competence can handle it. Besides, you need to sleep sometime, right?” She ran surveillance on her second in command from time to time because it was prudent to do so, the same way that Danna did with those most valuable to her and so on down the line. As near as she could tell, the other woman worked and slept and did very little else. She reminds me of me on my way up.
Her subordinate grinned. “Sleep is overrated.”
The words summoned a wave of weariness that reminded her she was tired and had in fact been up for almost thirty-six hours dealing with the aftermath of the event that mangled the docks. She could use a rest herself. “You young people with so much energy. I’m off to bed.”
The woman nodded. “I’ll get the watchers out tonight.”
“Excellent.” She stood and put a hand on her shoulder. “You are a gem, and I don’t know what I would do without you. I’m glad we’re a team.” Tears threatened, and she held them in check with an act of will. I’m too tired and getting maudlin. She turned and strode quickly to the office to portal home.
Danna Cudon watched her go and finished the chunks of fruit on her skewer before she drained the rest of her glass. She wasn’t sure what the damn Kraken attack actually meant for them but was determined to find out. Things were best when they were predictable and controlled, at least where work was concerned.
She thought of the romantic interest in her life and laughed at the name he’d given to Grisham. Ozahl. Seriously. Who would believe that nonsense? With a shake of her head, she summoned her magic and used it to push her tiredness away and to fill her muscles with energy. It would take hours to set up the network Usha wanted and hours more to speak in person with those who would report directly to her in spite of her superior’s admonition against it.
Knowledge is power, but only if you have it before your competition does. And here in New Orleans, everyone is my competition.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Cali gazed at the structure ahead of her with a frown. It was a 1601 commercial address, the second one she and Fyre had visited that day. The first had been a twelve-story building with offices above a coffee shop on the ground floor, and they’d agreed it was unlikely to be their target.
She’d tried the key on the entry doors anyway but it hadn’t even come close to fitting. This address seemed more likely to be their destination. It was one of a cluster of two-story warehouse buildings and appeared vacant. Better still, a large padlock secured the front doors, one that might even be large enough to accommodate the oversized key in her hand.
“Go on up,” she said, and the Draksa elevated with strong beats of his expansive wings. He disappeared from view, although she could see the shimmer of his veil. They’d concluded that it was her other senses keeping track of him that allowed her to isolate the visual cue as well, which had been reassuring. She’d hate to think the telltale was visible to others.
He circled several times before he returned to land beside her. “It’s all clear. There is not a soul around.”
“Does that seem normal?”
His snout lowered and rose in a nod. “Yes. This seems like a very lightly traveled site. There aren’t many tire tracks or footprints so maybe it’s all abandoned.”
That’s a good sign maybe. Who the hell knows? She sighed. “Okay, the moment of truth.” She strode forward and lifted the lock. The key slid in, and she had an instant of elation before it failed to turn. “Damn it to hell,” she shouted at the top of her lungs, then yanked the key out. In a calmer voice, she observed, “The lock could be damaged. It wouldn’t hurt to check inside.”
“Sure, it’s only breaking and entering, not one of the bigger crimes. Should I give Detective Barton a call now to save time?”
“Funny stuff, scale face. Don’t quit your day job.” She raised her hand and blasted the chain with a force bolt that shattered several links. “Oh, look, it’s open.”
The Draksa rolled his eyes, which was an impressive sight given their larger than expected size. Cali pulled the door open only far enough to slide inside and pushed down on the hope that threatened to fill her. Unfortunately, the interior was boring—an empty warehouse with debris and a few broken pallets scattered on the floor.
“Ta
ke a look around for me, will you?” The dragon lizard slithered away, and she cast about with every magical sense she had in search of anything that might be hidden or any clue at all. With a sigh, she announced, “There’s nothing, right?”
“Exactly,” he called in response.
With another sigh, she gestured toward the door and led the way out onto the street. She scowled at the lock. “Why even bother to secure the building if it’s empty? Idiots.” Logic wasn’t welcome in her mind at the moment, and when it tried to suggest that valid reasons existed, she pushed the thought away.
She sat on the curb and held the key in front of her eyes. “Why do you suck so much? What are you for? Reveal your secrets, you stupid damned hunk of metal.” It didn’t seem to feel the need to obey her command and remained inert.
Fyre poked her with her nose. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but your parents were magicals, right?”
“Yes. So?”
“Well, if two magical people left a hidden message for another magical person, don’t you think they might, maybe, just possibly, use magic?”
Cali lowered her head in amazement at her own stupidity. Her gaze focused on the ground, she said, “To be fair, both Emalia and likely Scoppic or Invel examined it magically.”
“But they aren’t you.”
She moved her gaze to the object in her hands. Don’t crush my hopes, you bastard key. Not again. Of course, she didn’t know how to create the result she wanted or even where to start. An image of her parents floated into her mind, and she caught it and focused on it. She relaxed her hold on her power and willed for it to tell her something about the key.
Magic swelled within her, and the object glowed in her hand. She thought for a second she would receive a clue, but it faded into its scraped and dull sheen. Her spirit cracked at the sight, and she closed her eyes against the tears that had begun to form.
“Look again,” Fyre said with a note of excitement in his voice.
She opened her eyes and saw a symbol in the circle made by the etched zero. She scrabbled for her phone and magnified the image to discover that it was a small compass, almost exactly like the one on the necklace she wore. Her mind whirled for a moment before an idea materialized. She snapped a picture of the design and dropped it into a reverse image search.
Compasses galore filled the results so she tried again and this time, limited the search with the numbers 1601. Only one result was returned, and she grinned. “They were clever people, my parents.” It wasn’t an address. Staring at her from the screen was the image of a mausoleum in Cemetery Number One, with no names or markings and its only notable feature a marble statue of an angel mounted over the door. It held a scroll with the etched numbers she sought. She turned to Fyre with a grin. “Damn, you’re good.”
“I know, right?”
She stood and brushed the seat of her jeans off. “Let’s go get ready for this. We’ll sneak in after dark.”
Entering the cemetery was far easier this time than it had been on her previous visit. Cali used a force blast to propel herself over the wall when the coast was clear of witnesses and another to cushion her landing. Despite spending a good portion of the day searching the Internet and looking at all the pictures of the area she could find, she hadn’t been able to pinpoint exactly where their target destination was located.
Fyre led the way since his heightened senses would provide an early warning if any predators—animals or humans—awaited them. The graveyard appeared to be deserted except for them, and it took only ten minutes of searching to find the mausoleum. She blew her breath out in relief. “I was sure this would be harder than it seemed. Let’s see what my parents left for us.”
But, after she’d circled the entire building with a growing sense of dismay, she was forced to acknowledge that nothing was ever easy, including legacies. She put her hands on her hips and looked at her companion. “So, there’s no keyhole. Do you have any ideas?”
The Draksa sat and regarded the structure for some time without speaking. Finally, he stood and walked in a circle, looking outward. When she was about to yell at him for being an enigmatic jerk, he deigned to speak. “I can sense something magical going on here. Well, not actually magical. More like potentially magical. Does that make sense?”
She frowned. “Like a trap?”
He paced around one more time. “No, I don’t think a trap. Usually, that has a more negative, doom-like feel. This is more like something’s waiting.”
“For a trigger. To explode.”
The Draksa snorted, amused. “For a trigger, sure. To explode, probably not. I think your parents left you a puzzle.”
Cali sighed and looked at the sky. “Seriously, you guys? I hope you’re enjoying all this.” She stalked forward to examine the mausoleum more closely. A rounded protrusion jutted from the center of the doors where she’d expect a lock to be, but it was seamless. She placed her hands on it and willed it to open as she allowed her power to flow out, but nothing happened. “Dang it. Of course that would be too easy. Okay, walk the path of where you feel the magic.”
She watched as he paced an almost perfect diamond shape with the mausoleum on one point, two low headstones at the sides, and a tall marker with a spire at the far end. Her heart beat a little faster as she crossed to examine the markers. Each had unfamiliar names and birth and death years carved into the stone. They didn’t seem to have anything in common, and by the conclusion of her second circuit, the anger had begun to hammer in her temples.
The emotion really didn’t help so she forced herself to calm. Perhaps the puzzle was simple and meant to keep people without the key from entering. So, if the key is the key, what could it mean? She held it out and looked at it, hoping for a clue, but it gave her nothing.
Fyre stared at one of the low markers and interrupted her thoughts. “These stones each have a six, a zero, and two ones on them. Not together or in order, but present.”
“I’ll try pushing on them.” She moved to each one and traced her fingers over them, but that didn’t work either. Frustration was rising again, momentarily held back by his discovery, and she forced herself to focus through it. I wonder if there’s a spell to make myself stop freaking out so much. That would be helpful. “Okay, let’s put a little magic on the stones.” She repeated what she’d done with the key, but while she felt a resonance from them, no revelation occurred. “What am I missing, Fyre?”
His voice was thoughtful. “How about you stand at the mausoleum and try the magic on the key again?” She shrugged and did as he asked. Again, the symbol appeared, and although she felt a stronger resonance, nothing in front of her changed. The Draksa, though, broke out into happy laughter. She whirled on him and snapped, “What?”
He raised an eyebrow. “You might want to take it down a notch. I’ll wait.” His superior tone was irritating but there was truth to his words.
“Okay. I’m good. Sorry.”
“Turn and cast that spell again.”
Cali obeyed, and as the resonance fluttered through her, a compass appeared on the ground. The north icon faced the stone to her left, even though that wasn’t north. “Uh, okay.” She moved toward it and the image vanished. “Damn. Wait. I got this.” This time, she stuck the spell into a corner of her brain after she cast it so it wouldn’t vanish when she did other things.
When she reached the stone, she knelt and whispered, “Please.” She touched the first number one and outlined it with her finger. It started to glow. The compass beneath her—which now seemed to be part of the ground—spun to face the opposite way. She crossed to it and held her breath as she traced a six. The compass turned to the spire, and she hurried forward and caressed the zero.
It spun again and stopped with its point leading to the mausoleum. The first three numbers carved in the angel’s scroll glowed. The image beneath her feet moved and coalesced into the center circle, which then floated toward the last digit. When it reached it, a click sounded and the protrusion on the
door vanished to reveal a keyhole.
Cali stepped forward in a daze and inserted the key, which turned easily.
Fyre leaned into her and she looked at her friend and partner. “Are you ready for this?”
He nodded, and replied, “I think the more important question is whether you are ready for this.”
She swallowed the lump that was stuck in her throat. “No. I don’t think I could ever be. But that won’t stop me. Let’s do it.” She pushed on the door and it swung open into the darkness.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Based on the size of the mausoleum, Cali had expected to find a small room on the opposite side of the barrier separating her from the secrets her parents had left. But, like so many things about her life lately, her expectations in the matter turned out to have very little to do with reality. Beyond the entrance, stairs led into the darkness, as wide as the double entry in the front wall of the structure.
She looked at Fyre. “Well. That’s not at all like a horror movie. How about you go first and do a little recon? Let me know what you find.”
He snorted at the joke. “How about not?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be tough?” She sighed. “Fine, scaredy-Draksa, we’ll go together.” Her babble was merely a way to avoid heading into the dark. She wasn’t sure if she was eager or terrified as it seemed to change from one millisecond to the next. With a sigh, she closed the main doors. While the moonlight outside had been bright enough to see well in, this descent required something more. She retrieved the small flashlight she’d shoved in the pocket of her jacket and flicked it on.
The stairs continued beyond the light’s ability to illuminate them, although a hint of a wall showed at the bottom, possibly marking a turn of some kind. She released an unfocused version of the spell she’d used on the key and it returned a vague sense of magic around her. “Fyre, do you sense anything?”