“Grey, if you call me that again, I’ll leave your wretched ass trapped in a time loop,” she said with a smile that never reached her eyes. “It won’t be pleasant—for you.”
I shivered in response and shook my head.
“No, thanks. I’ve heard of your time loops.”
“Eileen will have some more ammunition for you on your way out,” she said and turned back to her desk with a wave. “I have a feeling you’re going to need it. Come visit me when you’re ready to upgrade that atrocity you call a coat. Oh—and Koda?”
We stopped walking. “Yes?” Koda said as she tensed.
“Your grandfather died a warrior’s death, even though few remember it,” Tessa said, leaning against the edge of her desk and staring at Koda. “Make sure you honor his memory.”
“I will.” Koda gave her a slight bow and stepped out of the office.
I stepped into the reception area and the wall whispered closed behind me. Eileen approached and handed me a large case.
“Ms. Wract said you would be needing these.” She placed the case on one of the desks.
“How much?” I snapped it open and saw various types of ammo. There was enough to last me a year. “Does Tessa think I’m going to war?”
Koda looked over my shoulder and whistled. “That’s a lot of ammunition for someone who doesn’t miss,” she said with a smile as I glared at her.
“Ms. Wract believes in preparation and planning,” Eileen answered. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
“I don’t see entropy rounds.” I closed the case and looked at Eileen. “Out of stock?”
Eileen shook her head. “As we both know, entropy rounds are considered contraband.” She pointed at a group of boxes in the case. “Negation rounds. More powerful than entropy rounds and tailored to your pistol.”
“More powerful, but not illegal?” I asked, grabbing a handful and filling three of the speed loaders next to the box of ammunition and dropping them into a pocket. “How does she manage that?”
“Not illegal or recognized at the moment by the NYTF or Dark Council,” Eileen replied. “Therefore not contraband.”
“Of course not,” I said, realizing that the loophole was typical for the Moving Market. “At least not yet.”
“The ammunition is courtesy of Ms. Wract and the Market.” Eileen looked down at a clipboard. “I trust you know the way out?”
I nodded. “Tell Tessa I said thank you.” I grabbed the case and placed it inside one of the duster’s pockets.
Koda raised an eyebrow at my duster.
Eileen nodded curtly. “Have a good day, Mr. Stryder,” she said and walked off.
“Their customer service could use some work,” Koda said, grabbing the edge of my duster. “Where did you put it?”
“Put what?”
“That was a lot of ammo,” she muttered to herself. “Yet no weight transference to the coat. Impressive.”
She examined both sides of the duster, moving it back and forth. I pulled the coat from her grip and headed back to the main entrance with Koda keeping pace. I grabbed the handle and the edge of the doorframe flashed white for a split second.
We stepped through the threshold and back into the maintenance shack at Carl Schurz Park.
SEVEN
“WELL, THAT WAS a waste of time,” Koda said, clearly frustrated. “How did she know about me and my past?”
“What did you learn from the visit?” I looked over to the Roosevelt Island Lighthouse as we stepped onto the promenade. “Or were you just focused on what she told you about your grandfather?”
I stood still and let my senses expand. It was an old Night Warden skill I used to make sure an area was clear of threats. The promenade was empty except for us.
I looked out over the water one last time and headed down the stairs. Koda trailed behind me in silence. I knew she was still off-balance about Tessa, but she would need to learn to recover fast if she was going to survive on the streets of this city.
“So you didn’t learn anything?” I asked.
“Of course I did,” she snapped back. “She doesn’t like you much.”
“Who, Tessa or Eileen?”
“Tessa. I just don’t know why she deals with you if she doesn’t.”
“We have—history.” I pressed the fob in my pocket and the Shroud shimmered into view. “I’m a living reminder of a past she’s trying to forget. What else?”
I put on my kinetics and the shield formed around my head with a violet flash before fading away and becoming clear. Koda did the same and jumped on the Shroud.
“You may look old, but you actually have aim,” she said grudgingly. “If this Night Warden thing doesn’t work out, you could go into pest control.”
“I already have my hands full in that department.” I placed a hand on the Shroud. It rumbled to life and I slid into traffic. “Anything else?”
“The only other thing is that she didn’t like your coat, but she kept mentioning it,” she said, looking at my duster and pulling on one side of it. “I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s just a leather duster. Somewhat raggedy, if you ask me, but I do like the design. What is that, a mosquito?”
“I didn’t ask, and you can see the design?” I asked surprised. Only one other person could see the dragonfly emblem on the back of my duster—Jade. The design was only visible to practitioners of a specific kind of magic. This was beginning to make sense. “Tessa would kill to get this coat. It was created by Aria.”
No response.
“The Wordweaver?” I added. “Aria of the Wordweavers? The most powerful runecasters on the face of the Earth?”
“And what, that makes it a collectible?”
“This coat cost a fortune and a favor.” I cut off a taxicab who shared some colorful words with me. “It’s one of a kind.”
“So you wear it for sentimental reasons?”
“There are two reasons I wear this coat,” I answered with a sigh. “It’s runed to the point that it’s stronger than Kevlar and Dragonscale combined, which is especially useful since I’m not bulletproof or immune to large bursts of flame, and pockets that allow me to carry everything I need.”
“Does this Aria make leathers?” Koda replied after a pause. “I’m not really the trench coat type.”
“Doubt you could afford it. Owing a wordweaver a favor is no light matter, but you can ask.” I shifted to one side to avoid traffic. “What else did you notice?”
I felt her shrug. “She didn’t seem to know much about the LIT rounds or Redrum.”
“Incorrect,” I said, turning onto 1st Avenue, heading south. “She knows what’s going on with this new strain of Redrum, but something has her spooked.”
“I thought you said she’s dangerous?”
“She is. Which means?”
Silence for a few more seconds. “Whatever or whoever has her scared is even more dangerous.”
I nodded. “Maybe there’s hope for you.” I turned onto the FDR and sped downtown.
We arrived at The Dive. It had avoided the wave of gentrification to hit the area a few years back, because I was able to buy the entire building. The building itself was a converted carriage house with the bar on the ground floor and my apartment on the top two levels. I’d sunk a small fortune in the interior restoration and runework. The runes were strong enough to make The Dive a fortress if I needed it to be.
“What’s this place?” Koda asked as I parked the bike. “Is this where you live?”
“It’s where we live—yes.”
She looked around with a grunt of disapproval. “What’s this look, ‘modern ghetto’?”
“It looks better on the inside.” I got off the Shroud and headed inside. “Let’s go. I need to contact one of my sources.”
“I hope this source works with the Buildings Department and this place is slated for demolition,” she said as we crossed the threshold.
The runes on the doorframe hummed as we entered, and
I could feel the dampening effect as we entered the building. Inside was a mixture of mahogany and cherry woods. The floor was red marble. Every surface was runed, creating a magic vacuum.
Cole stood behind the large wooden bar and nodded as I came in. He wore his usual black T-shirt and jeans ensemble. Even though it looked like he lived in the gym, I’d never seen him outside of The Dive for longer than an hour. I asked him about it once. He gave me his usual wordy answer. Genetics.”
Foy Vance’s gravelly voice came over the sound system, imploring for rain as we approached the bar. The bittersweet feel of the music complemented the mix of honey and lemon I sensed every time I stepped into The Dive.
“What fresh hell is this?” Frank said from the corner of the bar. “You picking up strays from the street now, Grey?”
“That thing can talk?” Koda asked as she squinted in the dim light. “Is that a lizard?”
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath. “He doesn’t like being called a—”
“Lizard?” Frank hissed and stalked closer to Koda. “Did she just call me a lizard?”
“Well, technically, it’s what you are,” I said, trying to head off the explosion. “It was an honest mistake, she didn’t—”
“Shut it,” Frank said while holding up a leg and pointing at me. Small arcs of electricity jumped off his body. He turned to face Koda. “The correct term is dragon. Miss…?”
“Koda,” she said with a smile and reached over to pet Frank. I grabbed her hand before she made a fatal mistake. “What? He’s cute.”
“You don’t want to do that—ever.”
Koda pulled her hand back and moved down the bar. “What is he?”
“This one’s sharp as a brick, Grey,” Frank said, glaring at Koda. “I told you. I’m a dragon.”
“He’s a pain in my ass, is what he is.” I slid Frank down to the other end of the bar. “I need to show her where she’s staying. Think you can stay calm for five minutes?”
“She’s staying here?” Frank flicked his tail in displeasure. “I thought you said you weren’t going to—?”
“I know what I said. She’s staying here. Can you behave?”
“Behave? Never.” I stared at him. “Fine, I’ll leave her alone. Unless she calls me a lizard again. Then all bets are off. It’ll be the end for Miss Koda.”
“I saw what you did there,” I said with a smile. “Not bad.”
“Not bad?” Frank gave a mock bow. “I am a master.”
“I need to find Street,” I said as I pushed off the bar. “Find him.”
“I think you mean, ‘Find him, please, oh, great and fearful dragon of immense power.’”
“No, I meant find him—now, oh, small and puny lizard of questionable power, filled with delusions of grandeur.”
Frank nodded, gave me two one-fingered salutes and circled in place with closed eyes. I motioned silently for Koda to follow me upstairs.
“Don’t call him a lizard,” I said when she caught up. “His name is Frank, but it’s better if you just ignore him. Let me show you where you’ll be staying.”
The level above the bar was the training floor and library. Above that were the living quarters. I took her down to the south end and pointed to the door.
“This is you,” I said with a nod. “I’ll have Cole bring up the stuff Corbel dropped off so you can get settled. I’m at the other end. Don’t go down there unless I tell you.”
“Why not?” she asked, craning her neck around me and looking down the hallway. “What’s down there?”
“My room, which is off limits.” I looked at her and shook my head. “I prefer my privacy not be invaded, and the runes along the floor will blow you to bits if I don’t deactivate them first. Downstairs in twenty.”
I deactivated the runes because I knew she would try them at some point. I didn’t want to scrape her off the walls and rebuild the top-half of the building. Her door opened and closed behind me and I glanced down the hallway. Nothing good would come of this.
I opened my door and another set of runes thrummed as I entered my room. It was twice the size of the entire third floor. I’d cheated by using the same runes that made the pockets of my coat larger than they actually were. I removed the case of ammunition and placed it on my worktable.
I took a moment to take a deep breath. I grabbed a pair of pruning shears and gave one of the closest bonsai some attention. I started growing them a few years back and initially had them all over The Dive, until Frank started setting them on fire. I moved them all into my room after that and left a select few downstairs as centerpieces for the dining tables.
Next to the table, in the center of the work area, I had etched a large circle into the wooden floor. I reached in and removed the sword Hades had given me. It jumped in my hand again. I placed the sword in the center of the circle and it hovered a few feet above the ground. I stepped back and touched the edge of the circle.
The runes around the outer edge flashed orange for a few seconds and then became dim. They pulsed every few seconds, and I knew the sword was secure. I wasn’t going to become the host to some insane sword just because Hades wanted me to, even if it could stop the spell that was killing me.
The smell of chlorine filled the room, followed by an electric charge that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. The high-pitched sound of a triangle filled the room a second later.
“What is it?” I said without turning around. “Didn’t I ask you to find Street? Don’t burn my plants.”
“You want the bad news or the worse news?” Frank said as he sat on the worktable and took a deep breath. “The air is always so fresh in the Stryder jungle.”
“You know I hate it when you do that.” I adjusted the runes around the circle holding the sword. Another orange flash let me know that a second layer of security surrounded the sword.
“Have you seen my legs?” he said, lifting one and wagging it at me. “You expect me to take the stairs?”
“Send Cole next time.” I looked down at him and scowled. “Now it smells like a rancid swimming pool in here, and my ears are ringing, thanks.”
“My pleasure,” he said with a flourish. “Which is it?”
“Bad news first.” I adjusted Fatebringer as he ported to my storage trunk with a crackle of energy.
“Several packs of rummers are loose on the streets,” Frank said and spat. On the trunk. My ancient ironwood trunk that contained volatile magical items. Scorch marks formed where the saliva landed. “Shit, sorry.”
I stared at him.
“It’s the middle of the day.” I grabbed a rune-covered cloth and threw it on the saliva, absorbing it. Last thing I needed was a magical fire. “NYTF or Dark Council taking action?”
“The usual—deflection and plausible deniability.”
“So they aren’t doing anything.”
Frank nodded.
“Night Wardens?”
“You just said it.” Frank shook his head. “It’s the middle of the day and they’re Night Wardens. They seem to take the title seriously.”
“Which leaves—?” I said, knowing and hating the answer.
“Grey Stryder, rogue day and Night Warden, hero extraordinaire,” Frank said with a bow. “Keeping the streets of our fair city safe from the menace of the night. Speaking of menace—why is there an angry dark blade in your room?”
“I’m holding it for someone,” I said. “It’s going back ASAP.”
“Good, it’s giving off some serious dark mojo.” He looked down and twitched his tail anxiously. “The kind that makes me want to wet myself. I would hate to ruin your nice trunk.”
“Don’t make me squash you.” I raised a hand menacingly. “What’s the worse news?”
“Those rummers? They’re closing in on Street’s last position.”
“What? Fuck! Why didn’t you tell me that first?”
“I asked you what you wanted to hear first—you said the bad news.”
I glared
at him. “Go get Koda and meet me downstairs. Now.”
“Really?” Frank shook his body, sending small electric sparks in every direction. “Are you sure?”
“Don’t give her a heart attack.” I grabbed two more speed loaders and my coat and headed out of the room.
EIGHT
I HEARD THE screaming followed by cursing as I raced downstairs. Cole was behind the bar. Frank materialized with a small thunderclap a few seconds later.
“Thank you for that, Grey,” Frank said with what passed for a grin. “She’ll be down right away.”
“Where is he?” I kept my voice calm, but my stomach was in a knot. “Can you pinpoint Street?”
“He’s moving around too much,” Frank answered. “It’s hard to get an exact location.”
I’d be moving around if I had a pack of rummers on my ass too. Why would they be after Street?
“How do you know it’s rummers? Could just be runic interference?” I said, hoping against hope. “Maybe it’s a Ziller wave?”
Frank stared at me as if I had hit my head repeatedly.
“Ziller waves would boost his signature, not obscure it,” Frank replied. “This is reading wrong, twisted—like a rummer. Lots of them.”
“Damn it,” I said under my breath. “I need a location. Frank, give me a general area.”
I stepped back as Frank turned in a circle on the bar. I learned early on that it was better to stand back when he was doing his location thing.
“Best I can give you is Central Park, south end, near Columbus Circle.” Frank shook his head and small arcs of electrical energy leaped off him. “You’d better get moving. Is short and sassy upstairs any good at fighting?”
“Worked for Hades, as a cleaner of some kind,” I said, checking Fatebringer. I reached under the bar for three more speed loaders with LIT rounds, putting them in a pocket. I kept ammunition stashed throughout The Dive. Better to have it and not need it than the alternative.
Frank spat on the bar.
“You realize that’s disgusting, right?” I said, looking at him and throwing another runed towel on the saliva. “At least use the sink or don’t do that at all.”
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