Monty took the narrow bag from the Harlequin and left the office. I followed and stopped at the door for a second. “I’ll make sure Michiko knows.” I nudged Peaches and continued walking, when Erik spoke.
“Simon, bring her back—alive,” Erik whispered as I closed the door behind me.
THIRTY-TWO
I FELT MY phone vibrate as we sped up the West Side Highway. I glanced down and saw Ramirez’s number, connected the call and put it on speakerphone.
“Strong, tell me you have answers, something, anything,” Ramirez said in his usual ‘make my ears bleed’ tone. “This Redrum is making the night and days a mess.”
“Days?” I swerved around a few cars, and Monty gave me a look. “I thought the blood made them photosensitive?”
“It does,” Ramirez said with a sigh. “That’s the problem. They feel superhuman until they step into the sun, then it’s itching, burning, and boom—Redrum user all over the sidewalk.”
“That actually makes sense,” Monty said, rubbing his chin. “It’s what they want.”
“Come again?” Ramirez asked, confused. “What makes sense? Explain it to me. I would love for something to make sense.”
It came to me suddenly. “If you wanted to eliminate vampires from the city,” I said, braking short and causing a few drivers to give me some New York City blessings, “how would you do it?”
“Fuck me sideways,” Ramirez said after a brief pause. “The Blood Hunters are behind this. The brass met with their leader—an Anastasia—a few days ago to discuss the imminent supernatural threat. She said the NYTF was ill-equipped to deal with it.”
“They agreed?” I cut off a yellow taxi that proceeded to try to race with me, until I pressed down on the gas. “What did they say?”
“They took it under advisement,” Ramirez said. “They don’t like anyone pissing in their pool. But some of them are seriously considering working with them.”
The NYTF was territorial. If the Blood Hunters came in trying to tell them how to do their jobs, the rank and file would reject them outright. The brass, on the other hand, would ‘take it under advisement,’ which meant they were looking for a way to turn the situation to their advantage.
“Working with them will end badly.” I swerved off the Westside Highway. “We have a meet. Stall the brass until we’re done.”
“Where’s the meet?” Ramirez asked. “Location.”
When I didn’t answer, he cursed. “Strong, either you tell me where it is or I send out several squads to hunt you down.” I heard the punching of keys in the background. “I only need to follow the trail of destruction—your call.”
“Ellis Island.” I pulled up to the front of the Moscow, took the phone off speaker, and let Peaches out. I walked through the door and noticed Andrei jumped back out of the corner of my eye. I refrained from his regular torture as I headed to the stairs behind Monty with Peaches in tow. “Ramirez?”
“Do you remember when I told you not to go into the Foundry without an army of backup?”
“Vaguely.” I climbed the stairs slowly. I knew where this was going. “Chi is on that island, Angel. There is nothing you can say that’s—”
“Use the Phoenix Protocol,” Ramirez whispered. “I’ve been doing some digging of my own. Everything about you is scrubbed clean—too clean.”
“I can’t—shit, Angel,” I said with a sigh. “I can’t use that without setting off a shitstorm in the NYTF. People would die.”
“I know.” I could hear the satisfied smirk on his face. “I was just verifying my info. Phoenix Protocols are reserved for higher echelon operatives and Shadow Company. I wonder which you belonged to, Strong?”
“You bastard.” I couldn’t help the smile on my face. “Stop digging into my past. You won’t like what you find.”
“I don’t like you now,” Ramirez answered with a grunt. “Nothing I find is going to make me like you less.”
“Don’t be so sure.” I opened the second-floor door and headed to the office. “What can you tell me about Ellis Island?”
“Officially? Nothing.” I heard the keys again. “Unofficially, I’d tell you to stay away even though I know you won’t. It’s a Dark Council black site. It has been shut down for decades. No one goes there. The place is so jammed up with old energy it fries anyone who tries to use magic while standing on it.”
“Runic defenses.” I looked around but didn’t see Monty or Dex. Peaches headed for his food bowl and began to vacuum-inhale his food. “Any way around those? I would prefer to remain unfried.”
“Bullets and blades,” Ramirez said. “Make sure Tristan keeps his magic in check. The defenses are nasty. Are you sure she’s on that island?’
“Ninety percent.” I heard a noise coming from the guest bedroom. I saw the narrow case the Harlequin gave Monty resting next to the door. “I’ll be careful. If I see it’s too hot, we’ll bail out.”
We both knew it was a lie and he gave me a short laugh.
“Bullshit,” Ramirez said and then lowered his voice. “If anyone can get on and off that place in one piece it’s you two. NYTF isn’t even supposed to sneeze in that direction but I can swing some unofficial consultants—if you need them.”
“Too dangerous.” I stopped in front of the guestroom door. “The meet is tomorrow at dawn. I’ll call you after.”
“If you don’t, I’m launching an S and R to recover your body.”
“Your confidence inspires me.” The door rattled in the frame. “Listen, I’ve got to go.”
“Make sure you call me when you get safe,” Ramirez said before we disconnected.
I pulled open the door and my brain seized for a few seconds as I looked out over a large courtyard enclosed by wide stone columns. Etched into the ground in front of each column, I saw a circle made of runes. I looked back into our office and shook my head.
“What the fu—?” A blast of air shoved me back into the office, causing a fireball to miss me. The heat embraced me as the fireball evaporated. I looked across the courtyard to see Dex forming another orb of flame.
“A simple no would’ve sufficed,” Monty said as he stepped in front of me. “Simon, you may want to step back. He’s being difficult.”
I unsheathed Ebonsoul and saw Dex smile.
“That’s the spirit!” Dex yelled from across the courtyard. “He may be daft, but at least the boy has stones. You, on the other hand,”—he pointed at Monty—“I’m not so sure.”
Dex released the fireball and it raced at Monty. As it approached, it split into three fireballs. They swerved and homed in on Monty, who stepped out of the courtyard and closed the door behind him. The fireballs thudded into the door in rapid succession.
I sheathed Ebonsoul as Dex walked into the office a few seconds later. “Tristan, you’re throwing your life away for a vampire?” Dex barked. He turned and looked at me. “No offense, lad. I know you’re sweet on her—but a vampire? Heed me, this will not end well.” He was topless and wearing a black-and-red kilt. The rune-scars across his torso gave off a faint green light. Herk flew in low and perched on the branch he held with a squawk as the door closed with a bang behind him.
“Aren’t you involved with the Morrigan?” I pointed at the raven that glared at me with its green eyes. “That seems like a bad idea any way you try and sell it.”
Dex cursed under his breath and stalked off only to come back a few seconds later. “That’s different.” He pointed at me with his branch. “What she and I have is—”
“Complicated,” I finished. “Doesn’t make it any less real. Vampire, or insane goddess of the dead.”
“‘The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb,’” Monty said, his voice steel. “You taught me that. Those were your words.”
“I know they’re my words—I said them!” Dex threw up his hands and cursed again. “Eich bod yn y ddau wallgof—both of you are insane.”
“We leave in the morning,” Monty said with a smile an
d removed the battle armor from the narrow case by the door. He grabbed the remaining set and handed it to me. Next to the armor, I saw the gleam of two short swords—the Sorrows.
“There’s no casting for you on that island,” Dex said seriously. “I hope you have another method of using your abilities.”
Monty pointed at the case. “I have those.
Dex looked into the narrow case, saw the swords, and grunted. “Oi, you still know how to use them?” he said, removing one of the blades. He swung it in the air and the sound it made took me by surprise. Each practice cut he executed sounded like the weeping of a young girl.
“I’m sure it’ll come back to me.” Monty removed the second blade and held it out, checking the balance. “These will allow me to cast without fatal backlash.”
Black runes covered the silver blade on both sides. The hilt was the figure of a young woman with her arms outstretched to the sides. When Monty extended the sword, the figure’s arms wrapped loosely around his wrist. Dex turned the sword he held and handed it to Monty, hilt-first.
“Those are fine weapons.” Dex pointed at me. “What are you bringing?”
“I’m ready.” I moved my jacket to the side to show him Grim Whisper. “Entropy rounds.”
“Entropy rounds—impressive.” Dex nodded his head in approval. “What happens when you run out of bullets? You’re going to stop them with your charm bracelet?”
“If I have to, yes.” I adjusted the mala bracelet on my wrist. “I also have this.” I unsheathed Ebonsoul.
Dex whistled under his breath and held out his hand. “May I?” I handed him the blade and he turned it over. He narrowed his eyes at me and looked at Monty, who nodded.
“He’s bonded to it,” Monty said and placed the swords across his back in a cross sheath. “Don’t ask me how.”
“Bonded to a dark blade and still sane—well, relatively sane,” Dex said with a grin. “We may walk off the island after all.”
“What are you bringing?” I asked, sheathing Ebonsoul as Dex handed it back. “Besides bad jokes.”
Monty glared at me. “I apologize, Uncle Dex,” Monty said quickly. “His brain occasionally malfunctions and his mouth takes over—”
Dex held up a hand and Monty fell silent. “It’s a fair question,” Dex said, never taking his eyes off me. “Especially if one’s life hangs in the balance.”
I immediately regretted my question as I felt the energy around me build. Dex just smiled at me, but it wasn’t a friendly ‘I’d like to get to know you’ smile. This was closer to a ‘the next few seconds are the last ones of your life’ smile. Real fear gripped me as Dex extended his arms.
“Uncle Dex?” Monty said warily and stepped closer to me. “He doesn’t know the customs.”
Dex ignored Monty and kept staring at me. “If we’re going to share blood on a battlefield, you should know who stands by your side,” Dex said in a low voice. “To me, Herk!”
The raven flapped over, sat on his shoulder, and dug in with its talons. Blood flowed freely as the raven spread its wings and shifted, growing even larger. A green flash blinded me and the raven was gone. Dex’s body was covered entirely in black feathers with a metallic sheen. Only his glowing green eyes were visible. He grabbed his branch with both hands and held it in front of him. I saw Monty gesture as a shield formed around us.
“You had to ask?” Monty said as he kept gesturing and moving us back. Even with shield and distance, I felt the power coming off Dex. “He’s one of the strongest mages in the Golden Circle.”
“This is what I bring,” Dex said, his voice low. He raised the staff several feet off the floor. “I bring power.”
He slammed the staff down in the best Gandalf ‘you shall not pass’ move I’d ever seen. The shockwave tossed Monty and me like ragdolls across the room. I swear I felt the building shake. By the time my vision cleared, the raven armor was gone and Dex stood facing us with a huge grin.
“That—was epic.” I stood up and straightened out my jacket. “Tolkien would be proud.”
“Oh no,” Monty muttered under his breath behind me. “Don’t get him started.”
“First off”—Dex held up a finger—“I had to convince him to shorten that tongue twister of a name—John Ronald Reuel—to J.R.R.,” Dex said, opening the door to his room. “If you survive tomorrow, I’ll tell you how I helped him create his wizard.”
“You helped him create Gandalf?”
“Boy, I’m the reason Tolkien even wrote a Gandalf.” Dex looked at me and grew serious. “Do you still want to know what I’ll be bringing?”
I shook my head. “No, thank you,” I said. “I have an idea now.”
Dex gave me a short nod and a sly grin. “Next time you come into my quarters I’d advise you to knock first.” He stepped into his room and I swear I could see a green field with a castle in the distance before he closed the door behind him.
“We’d better get some sleep.” Monty stepped next to me. “Everything hinges on tomorrow.”
THIRTY-THREE
IMPENDING DEATH BRINGS you clarity of thought and purpose. I rarely gave much thought to my life ending. Being immortal has a way of shoving that to the back of your mind. In a few hours, I was going to step on an island so covered in magic that I might be rendered mortal. There was a good chance I wasn’t coming back from this. Love and insanity are thinly separated emotions. Over time, it’s hard to tell them apart.
I put on the battle armor. It was lighter than Kevlar and reminded me of articulated dragonskin combined with chainmail. It covered me from the neck down. A hood provided a snug fit to protect from headshots. I could see the faintly glowing runes shimmer across its dark surface and hoped they could stop blood arrows.
I strapped on Grim Whisper’s shoulder holster, tightened the thigh sheath holding Ebonsoul, and attached the flask of Valhalla Java to my other leg. I headed to the conference room, where I heard voices.
Peaches bumped into my leg, nearly dislocating my knee as I rounded the corner. I avoided smashing my face into the wall by turning and letting my shoulder take the brunt of the impact. His playful taps were getting dangerous. For a second I considered leaving him in the office. Then I remembered what he did to Roxanne. I doubted he would remain behind.
“We need to go get Chi, boy.” I rubbed his head as he rumbled at me. “I need you to stay close to me. This is going to be dangerous.”
“I’ll ask him.” We entered the conference room.
Monty and Dex were discussing Ziller’s theorems of teleportation circles and the displacement of mass. Monty had tried to explain this to me once when I asked about the wonderful aftereffects of teleportation. I wasn’t going to subject myself to the torture a second time. I pulled out Grim Whisper and checked it again.
On the table in front of them was a large map of Ellis Island. The island was U-shaped and turned on its side. Buildings occupied both ends of the U. The north side held the Immigration Museum. Several other buildings were connected to this main structure. The south side held the Ellis Island Hospital Morgue—a sprawling complex of small buildings. In the center of the U sat a large, squat building with a dock leading right into the water. It connected both ends of the island. Behind this building, the map showed a bridge leading away from the island and into New Jersey.
“If we land on the south side,” Monty said, pointing at the map, “we can secure the hospital area and use it as a base of operations.”
“Base of operations?” Dex scoffed. “You have an army I’m not seeing? There’s three of us.”
Peaches rumbled.
“Four of us.”
The raven squawked and flapped its wings.
“Five of us,” Dex said and looked around. “Five of us. We use stealth and the element of surprise and storm the main building.”
“We need to draw them here.” I pointed to the bridge. “Dex, can Herk pull
a Hugin and Munin?”
“A what?” Dex looked at me and then smiled as he nodded. “Aye, that he can do.”
“We send him first and recon the island.” I looked down at the map. “If you port Dex and the animals in this corner,”—I pointed to the northeast corner covered in trees—“they can find where Michiko is being held and target that area. How far out does the dampening effect extend? Does it cover the bridge?”
“Only the island is affected,” Monty said, rubbing his chin. “I should be able to cast on the bridge. I would say mid-span just to be safe. The problem would be getting the Blood Hunters off the island.”
“I’m going to call in a favor.” I rubbed my mark and hoped my idea would work. If it didn’t, we were all dead. “Where are we meeting her?”
“Anastasia wants to meet here.” Monty pointed to the center building that joined the island. “We’ll be vulnerable from every angle. What favor? From whom?”
“Anastasia isn’t expecting Dex.” I shifted to one side to get a better look at the map. “Once he finds Chi, he can unleash the power,”—I gave Dex a sidelong glance—“grab her and get to the bridge.”
“And then what?” Monty looked at the map. “There’s nothing around the bridge—no cover, no egress. The Blood Hunters will attack en mass.”
“I’m counting on it,” I answered. “Do you think you can teleport something as large as the Goat?”
“I can’t.” Monty shook his head and pointed at Dex. “But he can. And for the record, this plan is insane.”
“I like the way you think, boy.” Dex grinned at me. “I’ll find your vampire. Why are we taking a goat? Are sacrifices required?”
“I’ll explain on the way,” I said and nearly fell over from another nudge from Peaches. “Dex, do you think you can make another one of your sausages—to go?”
THIRTY-FOUR
“HOW CLOSE DO we need to be?” I parked the car behind the US Coast Guard Recruiting Center next to the South Ferry and looked across the water to Ellis Island. “That’s a lot of water to cross.”
Blood Is Thicker A Montague & Strong Detective Novel (Montague & Strong Case Files Book 3) Page 15