A Glimmer of Hope

by Steve McHugh

  Tommy shrugged, and Layla got the impression it didn’t matter one way or the other. “Why are you here?” Tommy asked. “And don’t give me that ogre bullshit.”

  “Elias has allowed this matter to become personal. I believe that is a mistake. Kidnapping Chloe was stupid, as was keeping an ogre and having it murder a bunch of people at a train depot. Nergal is fine with these matters, but I am not. I work for Nergal because he offers me certain things.”

  “Hands up if you think it’s brains,” Kasey said.

  A human-looking Diana put her hand up.

  “You people sicken me,” Remy shouted as he continued on toward the car.

  “My arrangement with Nergal is at an end. I have no interest in watching him murder innocent people, and I have no interest in watching him try to take over Avalon. Avalon would be best outside of the hands of someone like him or his associates. I’m here because I’m done, and I needed to help you live so that you didn’t run after me once this was over.”

  “You think because you killed an ogre that we’re going to just let you go?” Kasey asked. “I’m not sure that’s how it works. You have killed people for Nergal.”

  “Yes, many. But they were all bad people. How many have you killed? Tommy? Diana? What about your friend Nate? How many deaths have you all been responsible for? I’d put my money on it being more than a few.”

  “That doesn’t mean you’re a good guy,” Jared said.

  “First of all, I apologize for the attack on your transport. It was not my idea to kill Tommy’s employees. I know one died. Shane was responsible. I assume you have him in custody.”

  “What do you want, Masako?” Tommy asked, finally losing patience.

  “I want to interrogate Shane. I’ll get the answers you need, and then you let me go.”

  “What answers do we need?”

  “Where Elias has gone, for a start. You don’t think this is over, do you?”

  No one said anything.

  “He’s gone back to his home,” Layla said. “He needs to recharge.”

  Masako nodded. “And once he’s done, he’s coming after you. A fully charged redcap. He’ll be more than enough trouble for your people, Tommy. You can get to him before he gets to all of you. I advise you to let me help.”

  “Nergal will come after you.”

  “Nergal is my problem. I need to do this. Do not mistake this for a change of heart. I was being paid to do a job, and now I don’t want to do it anymore, but I’m also not willing to let Layla talk to her father. For several reasons.”

  “Name one,” Layla snapped.

  “Your father killed a friend of mine. If Nergal uses him to find the other umbra in the world, a lot more friends of mine could die. Or be folded into Nergal’s plan. Neither of those things appeals to me.”

  “I say let her help,” Kasey said. “But if she tries to screw us over, we kill her.”

  Masako smiled. “Sweet that you think you can.”

  “You want to do the conversation here?” Tommy asked.

  “Back at your mansion. You can cuff me or whatever else you want to do, but you’re going to need to plan what you do next and see to your wounded. I doubt you want to do any of that here.”

  “If you screw around with us . . .” Tommy said.

  “You’ll hunt me down. Yes, it’s all exceptionally scary. Yet I find myself not caring, Thomas. You don’t scare me.”

  Tommy whispered something in Masako’s ear that Layla didn’t hear, but whatever it was it caused the jikininki’s expression to change into complete and total fear.

  Tommy stepped away. “Deal?”

  Masako nodded once, her eyes never leaving Tommy’s face. “I swear I have no intention of crossing you, Tommy.”

  “We’ll discuss things further back at the mansion,” Tommy said, turning to the rest of the agents working around him. “I want this place searched for any information about where Reyes and Elias might have gone. I want them found.”

  “So, we’re running away?” Layla asked. “We beat them, and now we’re running?”

  “We’re not running,” Tommy said. “We’re getting the injured back to the mansion so we can hopefully figure out where Elias might have gone.”

  “And you think Shane knows?”

  Masako nodded. “He’s been with Elias for a few years. I’m guessing he knows.”

  “And how are you going to extract that information from him?”

  “Well, I could ask nicely. Or I could threaten to take his flesh.”

  “You’re going to eat him?”

  “We’ll see. I’d rather not. But one dead body is as good as the next when it comes to nourishment.”

  She walked away, leaving Layla in the middle of the yard, radiating anger. She wasn’t even sure who the anger was aimed at, she was just angry. “No,” she shouted. “No, we’re not just going to walk away and let him regroup. He doesn’t deserve to do that.”

  People turned to look at her, but she didn’t care, she needed to vent the rage inside. “He doesn’t get to go back to his home and try to come after me again. How many times are too many? How many times before we actually act, not react? We need to find Elias. And we need to do it now.”

  She spun on her heel and walked over to the car where Shane had been put, pulling open the door and forcing him out.

  “Hi, beautiful.”

  “Shut up, Shane. Where is Elias?”

  “Who?” Shane asked with a smirk.

  “Layla, don’t do this here,” Tommy called out as he walked toward her, with Diana and Kasey in tow.

  “Where is Elias?” Layla asked, ignoring Tommy. She didn’t care what other people thought, she just wanted answers.

  “I think I hit my head, so I don’t know,” Shane said, that same smirk on his face. A smirk that Layla wanted gone.

  His metal handcuffs began to tighten, digging into the skin around his wrists.

  “What the hell?” he shouted. “Stop it.”

  “How strong are you, Shane?” Layla asked. “Strong enough to heal missing hands?”

  Shane shouted as the cuffs bit deep into the flesh, drawing blood that quickly began to flow in a steady stream.

  “Where is Elias?” Layla asked.

  “You’re not a torturer, Layla. You don’t do this,” Shane said, a pleading tone to his voice.

  “Today I do, today I allowed my spirits to bond with me. Today I watched as you beat my friend. I think this is fair game.”

  Shane cried out in pain.

  Kasey grabbed hold of Layla and tried to move her away from Shane, away from the source of her anger and rage, but she’d anchored herself to the ground using the metal in the earth around her to keep her in place.

  “I don’t want to be moved,” Layla said. “I want to know where Elias is.”

  Kasey got in front of Layla and forced the young woman to look at her. “I know he hurt Chloe, and I know you’ve gone through a lot, but this isn’t you. You’re not a torturer. That’s a line you can’t come back from once you’ve crossed it. We will get answers from this piece of crap, but not like this. You need to rest before we go after Elias. We’re going to find him and burn his house down with him inside. But we can’t do it with you, Chloe, and Jared all hurt. Elias with full power is as strong as that ogre. We need to be just as strong.”

  Layla stopped using her power and dropped to her knees. “I just want this done.”

  Kasey placed an arm around Layla and sat beside her. “Me too. And it will be. We’re going to get healthy, get prepared, and find Elias. And then we’re going to take his head. And after that, it’s Nergal’s turn.”

  Layla nodded as Tommy got Shane back into the car and dealt with the bleeding. He was an umbra so it wouldn’t take long to heal, but no one wanted blood all over the car.

  “I’m impressed,” Masako said. “Didn’t think any of you had that sort of thing in you.”

  Layla looked over at her. “I think you should find those ans
wers quickly. Before Elias realizes what you’ve done and tells Nergal.”

  Masako pursed her lips. “That is probably a good idea.”

  She walked off, and after a few minutes Layla got into the back of another car belonging to Tommy’s people. Soon, the motion of the car caused her to fall asleep. It was the first time in days that her dreams were hers and hers alone.

  35

  For the next few days, Layla became increasingly anxious about finding Elias and putting a stop to his plans. Shane had been of little help, and he either didn’t know where Elias was, or was capable of withstanding whatever Masako did to him down in the basement.

  Chloe had healed within a few hours of arriving back at the mansion, and Jared had been fine before they’d even gotten back. In fact, he’d spent most of his time in the gym since returning, and hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone.

  Everyone was on edge, and Layla wondered if Tommy and his people knew more than they were letting on. Eventually the frustration became too much for her and, knowing that Tommy was in a meeting with Diana and Remy in his office, she knocked on the door and entered.

  “Layla, I assume you need something,” Tommy said, with no hint of annoyance at having his meeting interrupted.

  “Most people don’t knock before they march into an office,” Remy said. “That’s like really British of you. You know, like super-British.”

  “I want to know what’s happening,” Layla said, ignoring Remy. “It’s been three days, we’re all healed, and I want to go after Elias.”

  Tommy pushed his hands through his hair. “Me too. But it appears that there have been some developments, and now going after Elias is more complicated than first expected.”

  “I don’t understand. What complications?”

  “Avalon complications,” Diana said. “When we returned here, we updated those we trust in Avalon and explained what had happened. We hoped with a positive ID of Elias’s whereabouts that they might swoop in and grab him before he attacks again or Nergal manages to get him out of the country. That doesn’t look like it’s happening.”

  “My wife, Olivia, called,” Tommy said. “She’s been informed that Elias is off-limits. Apparently he’s too big a fish for my wife to go after. Which is odd considering she’s probably one of the three most powerful people in the LOA. Officially, she can’t touch him without taking flak.”

  “And Olivia is okay with this?”

  Tommy shook his head. “Not even slightly. That’s why she told me about it. Avalon’s power structure is a mess right now. So many people all trying to grasp whatever bits of power they can, while people like Nergal and his comrades prowl around waiting for weakness.”

  “Mum wants you to get to him first?” Kasey asked as she entered the room to Tommy’s obvious irritation. “What? I assumed this was a free-for-all meeting.”

  Chloe and Jared entered behind Kasey, with Harry in tow.

  “We don’t know where Elias is,” Tommy continued, as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “But then no one else seems to either. And if they do, they’re not sharing that information. But it won’t be long before Nergal contacts his allies in Avalon and either has Elias removed from circulation and brought back to him, or removed on a more permanent basis. We need to find Elias before anyone else. The one good thing is that redcaps do not tell people where their original home is. We’d hoped that Shane might be able to tell us, but he doesn’t know.”

  “So, torturing him was for nothing?” Layla said with a touch of anger in her voice.

  “Torture doesn’t work on everyone, and it certainly wasn’t going to work on Shane. Masako just spoke to him and got nowhere. She’s a scary lady.”

  “We have another good thing,” Harry said. “Elias wants Chloe dead.”

  “Seriously?” Chloe asked. “That’s a good thing?”

  “Sure,” Harry said without an ounce of irony. “He seems like the kind of person who doesn’t let things go easily. I’ve been reading up about him, and frankly he’s insane, but he also lives by his own moral code. And you killed someone he cares about. He won’t quit until he’s dead, or Chloe is.”

  “You want to use me as bait?”

  Harry shook his head. “How did you get that from what I said? Seriously, you need to go on holiday or something. You’ve been around crazy people too long.”

  “Today, Harry,” Tommy said.

  “My point is, Elias isn’t just going to pick up sticks and leave, not while Chloe is still alive, and not while Layla is still free. He’s been hired to do a job, and he’ll complete it or die trying.”

  “And you know this how?” Diana asked.

  Harry brandished a USB drive. “I downloaded everything you have on him and went through it. It’s not like I had anything else to do, so I figured why not. Anyway, his past crimes show that he doesn’t like to leave things unfinished. He once hung around in a country for a month after the job was done, simply to remove someone who had been a witness. He risked his life to do it. He’s not going anywhere.”

  “Okay, so that’s sort of good news,” Jared said. “But where is he?”

  Harry raised his hand.

  “You don’t need to do that,” Tommy explained.

  “Oh, okay, great. I know where he is. Or at least, I know where he might be.”

  “Might be?” Jared asked.

  “It’s better than no bloody clue,” Chloe said.

  “Fair point,” Jared conceded. “Where do you think he is?”

  “Can you all come with me into the second dining room? It would be easier to show you.”

  Everyone left, with Layla, Jared, and Chloe the last out of Tommy’s office.

  “There’s a second dining room?” Layla asked.

  “I know, right?” Jared said. “There’s like five reception rooms, and I don’t think anyone has ever used one of them.”

  They followed the rest of the group through the house, saying hello to several agents on the way. Layla noticed that everyone looked busy; if nothing else, Tommy made sure that people always had work to do. Except for her. No, she had been left to her own devices. She wasn’t sure if that was his way of allowing her time to deal with everything, or if he wasn’t sure how to act with her. Either way she appreciated it, but now she wanted to feel like she was contributing, and not just in a “brought all of this to their attention” kind of way. Right now, she felt like a bit of a third wheel.

  They reached the second dining room, which, as it turned out, was identical to the first—a room Layla had been in exactly once, and that was because she’d got lost.

  A long table sat in the middle of the room, with a dozen chairs around it. They were made of a dark wood that matched the two cabinets and three chests of drawers that stood around the edge of the room.

  A projection screen had been assembled at one end, and a laptop was at the far side of the table, six or seven feet away from the screen.

  “Did you do this?” Tommy asked Harry, sounding impressed.

  “I’ve been bored. I’m not exactly good at hunting monsters or demons, and while I can fight pretty well, fighting ogres is a bit out of my weight class. So I did this.”

  “You set up a movie theater?” Remy asked. “Needs some beanbag chairs, along with the smell of cannabis and lost hope, but it’s almost there.”

  “It’s not a movie theater,” Harry said. “Okay, it is a little bit, but that’s not why you’re here. Look.”

  He clicked a few things on the laptop, while Layla grabbed a chair and moved it slightly so that Remy beside her could see. He thanked her with a thumbs-up. Layla smiled, and when she turned back to the screen, there was a picture of Elias.

  “Okay, this is Elias. I know you all know that, but here he is anyway. Now, I’ve read everything you have on this guy.”

  “You said earlier, but really, everything?” Tommy asked.

  “I’m a quick reader and I absorb information like a sponge. I don’t need a superpower, Tommy. I already ha
ve one.”

  Tommy laughed. “Okay, sorry. Please go on.”

  “Right, well, he’s British. Born and bred here. The first known record of his involvement with Avalon is 1841.” Harry clicked on a link and brought up a piece of paper with barely legible handwriting on it. A wax ring seal was on the top right-hand corner.

  “That’s an Avalon seal,” Diana said. “I don’t know who, though.”

  “Yeah, it’s too degraded,” Harry said. “I couldn’t get a good look at it. But the document says that Elias Wells was put to work within Avalon. It’s basically a contract of employment.”

  “You can read that?” Jared asked.

  “My mother is a doctor,” Harry told him. “This is pretty neat in the scheme of things. Anyway, there’s no signature, but this is pretty good evidence that a man named Elias Wells was given work in Dorset.”

  “Why Dorset?” Tommy asked. “What’s there?”

  “I went through a dozen more Avalon personnel records and checked their first postings.”

  “You did what?” Diana asked. “How did you get clearance?”

  “You gave me a laptop with no passwords or encryption. I just opened the software.”

  Tommy glanced over at Diana.

  “Okay, moving on,” she said swiftly. “What did you find?”

  “Each person was given their first postings in their country of birth. Without exception, they were sent to the place they knew best. Not necessarily the city they were born in, but that first assignment made sure they were sent somewhere they knew. And all of the assignments were the same: they were told to just keep an eye out, to deal with an Avalon office in the area and do what they were told.”

  “There’s an Avalon office in Dorset?” Kasey asked.

  “Not anymore there isn’t,” Diana said. “Hasn’t been for . . .”

  “Since 1850,” Harry finished for her. “When the people there were killed by an ogre.” The screen was replaced with a picture of Brako.

  “Elias set it up?” Layla asked.

  “Either that or he made a pact with the ogre. I did wonder how they managed to get the creature across the world without anyone noticing. Answer: they didn’t. Ogres don’t fly or travel outside of their home. Ever. I researched them too, just to be sure. An ogre’s territory is for life. And that territory is big enough to encompass Dorset, Hampshire, and a little of Wiltshire. There are no exceptions to the size of a territory. So, Brako—that was his name, by the way, for those who didn’t know—he never left the UK. He was always here, always waiting.”