by Gini Koch
“Which war?” Jack asked as Maurice opened the door and headed out.
“Revolutionary. Ghastly times, just ghastly. I’ll say this -- nothing trumps indoor plumbing and central heat and air, nothing.” With that, the door closed and he was gone.
Chapter 22
I had the weaponry out, but getting it to the car was going to prove a little exciting, since we had to slide back to Prosaic City.
“Seriously, we can both barely carry all this stuff,” Jack protested as I put another crossbow on the stack he was holding. “How’re we going to explain it if we see someone? And do we really need it all or are you just a typical woman and you over-pack for all occasions?”
“Yes, we need it.” Well, we might need it. And better to be prepared. What if the one thing that would stop the Prince was my Evil Fairy Repellent and we didn’t have it with us? I grabbed another can and shoved it under Jack’s arm.
Laden for ancient gods, bear, warlock and potentially the Supreme Evil, I slid us across. Jack impressively didn’t drop anything. He didn’t stop muttering, either, but I let it pass.
The only beings on the top floors of the Prosaic City building were other undercover agents. So waiting for the elevator was no issue. However, we all could and did get human visitors, so being sure the coast was clear was still a necessity. Werewolf senses being what they were, it was easy for me to wait until I knew we had a clear elevator.
We loaded in and I pushed the special button that only those with top floor access had -- the Express button. We headed down to the parking garage with no stopping. Once there, however, I had to do the intent sniff and listen thing. There were a lot of human tenants going out and a few coming in. Fortunately there were several elevators and there was another special button for top floor folk -- the Door Sealed button.
After holding the elevator for a long ten minutes, the garage was clear and we headed to the car. Jack dumped the stuff in the trunk and moaned. “I don’t think I can move my arms. Hopefully nothing attacks us until I get the feeling back in my fingers.”
“Give me the keys, I’ll drive.”
He snorted. “No way.”
“I drive well.”
“You drive recklessly.”
“Do not.” Well, not always.
Jack opened the passenger door and waited for me to get in. He wasn’t normally this gentlemanly and I had to figure it wasn’t because we were now an official couple -- he just didn’t want me thinking I had a shot at the steering wheel. I gave him a dirty look as I seated myself.
He grinned, closed the door, and got in on the driver’s side. “I’m relieved our working relationship isn’t going to change now that we’re a couple,” he said with a laugh. “Where to?”
As Night Beat detectives, we didn’t have to check in at headquarters if we were in the middle of a case. The Chief would contact us if he needed to, but if we were following something, we had a lot of autonomy.
I activated my wrist-com and decided to throw the Count a bone. “This is W-W-One-Eight-One-Niner.”
“Agent Wolfe, how kind of you to follow procedures. I trust the daylight hours were good to you?”
“Fantastic. What’s our status?”
“Black Angel One has changed shifts with Vs-Seventeen-Seventy-Five and -Six.”
“What did Black Angel One have to say?”
“They shared that their quarry did nothing suspicious, but since they were following orders, they didn’t engage.”
“Fair enough. What else?”
The Count sighed. “A-Fifteen-Forty-Six has conferred and briefed Z-Nineteen-Thirty-Seven and L-Eighteen-Forty-Nine, and they are with V-Nineteen-Sixty.”
“Martin’s staying active on the team?” This didn’t bode well.
The Count sighed. “And here, I thought we were following procedure.”
“Fine, fine, carry on. Who else is with V-One-Nine-Six-Zero?” The Count got to use the shorter number codes, we agents didn’t. I was sure it was because the Count thought the whole numbering thing was ridiculous in the first place, but so far had never gotten him to admit it.
“Also with the group are L-Seven-Ten and HH and DC Sixteen-Oh-Six.”
“No one else?”
“Should there be?”
“I don’t know. I lost count a while back.”
“That remains your problem, not mine, Agent Wolfe.”
“And you wonder why I hate the call letters.” I gave up on the formality. “What about the doppelgängers? Anyone find any or all of them during the day and eliminate our problem?”
“If it were that easy, Agent Wolfe, why would we need you on the case?”
“Fine, where’re Ken and the others actually at, the cemetery?”
“If you already knew, why did you ask?” The Count disconnected. Sometimes he could be a royal pain in the tail.
Jack cleared his throat as he headed us on the fastest path to National Cemetery. “So, first question. Your agent codename -- does that stand for werewolf and the year you, ah, undied?”
“Yes.” I was glad we’d done the roll in the sheets thing a couple more times after breakfast. It muted my desire to do the roll and whine thing every time he said something intelligent or did something manly. I hoped it would last through the night.
“So, by that code, and knowing what Maurice said, he’s either V-Seventeen-Seventy-Five or -Six, right?”
“Right. He’s Seventeen-Seventy-Six, Amanda’s Seventy-Five.”
“L is lich, Z is zombie, and HH and DC are, what, hellhound and daemon cat?”
“Yep.”
He was quiet for a few long moments. “Wow. Monty is old.”
“Old, experienced, cagey.”
“I thought he ran his own thing, was dotted line to Necropolis Enforcement.”
“Yes, but he still has a call codename.”
“Rover doesn’t?”
“Rover’s assumed to be with Monty unless otherwise stated. Most white worms are within Dirt Corps. Monty has them assigned whatever codes he wants, I’d assume. Doesn’t matter.”
“Because Dirt Corps isn’t as good as Necropolis Enforcement?”
“No. They do their best. And they come through when you really need them.” Why I felt the need to defend Dirt Corps, I couldn’t say.
Jack smiled. “I’m not dissing them, Vic. It’s just obvious they’re not the elite.”
“True. But Rover doesn’t have a call code and it doesn’t matter because most white worms aren’t going to see a lot of active duty. Monty’s been training Rover for over a thousand years. He’s like Kato.” Prosaic City’s top police dog. Retired now, but still held as the K-9 standard against whom all others would never measure up. “But most white worms are pets.”
Jack mercifully didn’t make a joke. “I guess when you’re an undead you don’t have a lot of pet options.”
“True. For some reason, werewolves and hellhounds find others having dogs as pets somewhat demeaning. Daemon cats and feline familiars feel the same way. Undeads aren’t big on horses -- most of us can move faster on our own, and those who can’t usually prefer a smoother form of transportation. And so on. So, yeah, white worms are popular pets.” So were spiders, snakes and bugs, but only with Dirt Corps and their ilk.
“Is it true that animals are afraid of werewolves?”
“When faced with a hungry werewolf? Yeah, they should be afraid. But it’s like zebras and lions. If the lion’s full, the zebras are wary but not panicked. Same concept.”
We reached the cemetery and drove through slowly. It was quite large -- Prosaic City wasn’t small, housing several million souls, and the National Cemetery was the main cemetery for the city. It was placed on top of Necropolis’ Evangelical Quarter. I was pretty sure someone on the undead side had influenced that decision. It made the cemetery a much safer place to be than it would have been normally. It also made undead transitions for those interred there easier. Not all humans who died became undeads, but Monty was alw
ays looking for talent and really, ghosts created themselves.
Jack’s questions were causing my migraine-inducing double-vision. So I saw a solemn, lovely, well-kept cemetery sitting on top of the roofs of every kind of religious shrine known to human-, undead-, and all otherworldly-kind. If they were a good god still unalive and kicking, they had a shrine in the Evangelical Quarter.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Jack, you need to slow down on the questions. I have to concentrate on our problem at paw. Hand. Whatever.”
“Okay. Is that you concentrating or are you seeing both worlds at the same time again?”
“The latter.”
“Sorry.”
I opened my eyes. Good. I could only see the spires from some of the larger shrines, temples and churches sticking out of the ground. I could also see Ken and the others gathered around the largest tomb in the place.
“It’ll pass. Let’s really focus on the human stuff for right now. Because potentially the Prince and/or a wide variety of his stronger minions are wandering around in the human plane with intent to destroy and conquer.”
Chapter 23
We reached the group and I did a quick nose count. In addition to everyone I was expecting, Black Angel Two was with us as well. I got the impression they’d replaced Martin’s escorts because they gave the impression they were more than willing to exterminate with extreme prejudice should anyone look at him cross-eyed.
“Who’re the chicks?” Jack asked in a low voice.
Great. I knew I didn’t want female angels around him. “Black Angel Two.” I bit the silver bullet, gave them a smile, and made the introductions. “Miriam, Magdalena, this is my partner, Jack.”
They both eyed him. “Externally…I approve,” Miriam said, right before she turned away, presumably to watch Martin’s back.
Magdalena gave him a longer look. Then she smiled at me. “I think he’s a keeper. If you can keep him alive, that is.”
“Ah, nice to meet you both,” Jack said. Then he sidled away to stand next to Monty and pet Rover.
I followed. “What’s up with you?” I didn’t really want to hear about how hot and awesome Miriam and Magdalena were, but I figured it was better to get it over with now.
“Are all female angels Amazons?” He didn’t make it sound like a good thing.
“Well, no, but when humans become angelic they alter. Not just the wings and all, but there are other changes.”
“Those two were humans? Ever?”
“Yeah. From what I’ve been told, they weren’t quite that hot when they were alive.”
He shook his head. “Define ‘hot’. If you mean scary and emasculating, they’re smokin’. If you mean someone a guy would want to go to bed with, ah, not really.”
I tried to sniff surreptitiously. If someone was telling a whopper of a lie, there were usually telltale signs, and their body odor was one of them. I didn’t smell lying on Jack -- I smelled fear. He was afraid of Black Angel Two? I was both pleased and concerned. “Angels are normally considered the most attractive undead species in existence.”
“Really? Well, I’ll be sure to keep an eye on you around Martin and any other male angels.”
“Martin remained pretty much himself. He had the choice.”
“And the two scary chicks didn’t?”
“Um, I think it was more, at the time, when they died, that they wanted to fit in.” I was reaching. I had no idea what Black Angel Two’s mindset had been at the time. They’d died centuries apart and more centuries before me, but over time had worked hard to become one of the two top Angelic Enforcer teams. Considering that Black Angel One had been together far longer, and had died closer together, all things being equal, Two’s rise was very impressive.
“Fit in where?” Jack shuddered.
“With the other angels. And, what’s wrong with you?”
He shook his head. “I grew up thinking angels watched over us. I never want something like that watching over me.”
Miriam was next to us. Angelic thing. One moment there, the next, here. They moved fast, that was all, but it was freaky the first few hundred times it happened. She looked Jack right in the eyes. “You must tread carefully.”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to insult you,” Jack said.
She shook her head. “I don’t care what you think of me. But your soul is in jeopardy.”
“Because I’m a human?”
“No,” Miriam said slowly. “Because you no longer want to be.”
And then she was gone, back next to Martin and Magdalena, her back to us.
Jack looked at me. “Really? The most attractive undead species? Compared to what, Dirt Corps?”
“No, really. More than vampires, even.”
“Um, I’m not really attracted to Amanda, but I’d take her in a heartbeat over Black Angels Charm and Charmer.” He looked around. “They’re going to be working with us for the rest of this case?”
“I think so. Don’t worry, maybe Black Angel One will drop in, too.”
“More ‘hot chicks’?”
“No, they’re male. Brothers.” Considered the hottest things with two wings, too, but I decided not to mention it.
“I can’t wait.”
“You’ll have to,” Monty said. He’d played dead while this was going on, but I knew he’d taken it all in. “Black Angel One spent all day trailing Tomio for, as near as we can tell, no reason. They’re resting, but I believe they plan to join us in a few hours.”
“Good, I’m sure we’re going to need them.” I decided to let Miriam’s comment about Jack’s soul wait. We had to plan our course of action. I’d have time to find out what she meant -- about his soul as well as him not wanting to be human -- later. “Ken, what’ve we got?”
Ken came over to us and the others followed. “Nothing much. Amanda and Maurice are as bored on their trailing detail as they were last night and Black Angel One was all day.”
“No one’s found any of the doppelgängers? Not one?”
Gretel shook her head. “We put out an ABA. Nothing.”
“ABA?” Jack asked.
“All Being Alert.” I heaved a sigh. “So, all the false trails led here. What happened with the people who died at the scene last night?”
“They’re still interred,” Monty answered. “Nothing different about them.”
“The living victims are exorcised,” Martin offered. “But, as I’d suspected, it was a waste of effort. The traces were all external, only. Left to confuse and delay.”
“But why? The Prince’s side hasn’t done anything now for going on twenty-four hours. And with doppelgängers wandering loose, you’d think something would have gone down by now.”
“Are we sure we have doppelgängers at all?” Jack asked.
I shrugged. “No. We’re not sure the Prince or his stronger minions are on the human plane, either. But if they’re not, what’s with all the divide, conquer and confuse tactics? It’s not like doing that would cause us to take monitoring off the normal entryways or stop watching the usual suspects.”
“Everything seems normal, on all the planes,” Magdalena said. “Even in Hell.”
Martin nodded. “Undercover agents report no unusual activity, other than the incident from last night, which appeared to be an attempt to impress the boss that went wrong.”
“Our agents think Slimy acted alone and there was no one else on the grassy knoll or, in this case, in the creepy alley?”
“As far as they can tell,” Magdalena said. “As far as anyone can tell, we shouldn’t be gathered here, trying to find doppelgängers. Or anything else, for that matter.”
The group started discussing the situation, options, theories. I let it wash over me and didn’t add in. Neither, I noted, did Miriam. She still had her back to the rest of us, watching. She was still alert for danger. And I knew I needed to be. Werewolf senses work on many levels, and all of mine were saying we were in not just trouble, but real, potential Apocalyptic trouble. The tro
uble was, I had no idea of what it was, where it was coming from, or what to do to defend against it.
I realized we were missing two beings I’d requested. “Hey, where are Freddy and Sexy Cindy?”
“Finishing indoctrination,” H.P. advised. “They’ll be along shortly.”
“Good.”
“Why?” Jack asked, sounding tired already. “What are a former bum and hooker going to have that everyone else doesn’t?”
I shrugged. “Whatever they have, the Prince couldn’t get them. Besides, maybe they know where Tomio normally hangs out. We need to know if the person Maurice and Amanda are tailing is the real Tomio or not, for starters.”
“How would they know more than anyone here?” Jack shook his head. “If this were a human-only situation, I’d tell you to round up the usual suspects and find out what’s going on.”
Miriam stalked off. She went to what I knew were fresh graves.
“What’s she doing?” Interestingly, this question didn’t come from Jack, but from Ken.
I watched her. “I think she’s going to do what Jack suggested. She’s gathering the usual suspects, at least the ones from our favorite alley.”
“How is she doing that?” Jack asked.
“By raising the dead.”
Chapter 24
Despite what many religions would have you believe, raising the dead isn’t all that hard, shocking or unusual. Angels and gods can do it any time they want. They just don’t usually want to, for a variety of reasons.
There are also a variety of ways to raise the dead. Resurrection is a rarity -- most who die really don’t want to come back as humans or whatever they were before. The ones who die and are undead material are usually already out of their graves before an angel or god would be coming by.
I let Monty handle Jack’s new, myriad questions, while I went over to Miriam. Raising takes concentration, but she was so strong I figured she could talk and raise at the same time. I watched her movements -- she was going for a limited raising, which I considered good sense. The problem was, a limited raising was just that -- limited. You got a short time to ask whatever you needed of the dead and then they were back to dead.