“The red orb acted like a runic neutralizer. It overwhelmed the defenses of your Goat. This allowed the black orb to destroy the vehicle.”
“‘Destroy’ is a nice way of putting it. That orb melted the Goat.”
“I’ve told Cecil that layering process has flaws but he won’t listen to me,” LD said with a shrug. “This baby”—he patted the dash again—“would’ve absorbed the entropic dissolution and given the coat a shine.”
“Impossible,” Monty said next to me with his eyes still closed. “The runic disabler stripped the Goat down to a normal car. There was no way it could have withstood the dissolution. The same would happen to this vehicle.”
“Improbable, not impossible,” LD corrected. “The Eliminator isn’t covered in runes. They weren’t placed after the fact. The runes are etched into the making of the metal. There’s a reason Cecil moved to layering vehicles instead of using the metal infusion process. He tried it once.”
“Is the infusion too difficult?” I looked over at Monty, who had kept his eyes closed. “More expensive?”
“It limits the amount of drivers. Every car has to be keyed to an energy signature. I can only drive this one for short distances before it gets…irritable.”
“The car is irritable…really? What’s its name, Christine?”
He looked back at me, his expression serious. “When I say this is TK’s car, I mean she’s really the only one who can drive it.”
“Cecil tried to improve LD’s process once.” TK looked in the rear-view and then shook her head. “It was a bad idea.”
“He didn’t follow my directions and tried to infuse the metal without the energy signatures being keyed.” LD shook his head. “That was a disaster. Is that vehicle still around?”
“SuNaTran tried to destroy it, several times in fact, and failed spectacularly.” TK swerved around a vehicle, headed for the exit, and entered the small airport. “Last time they tried, it exploded one of their shops. It won’t take paint either…the thing is cursed. I don’t know what Cecil did with it.”
“Cursed,” I said with a chuckle. “Cecil made a cursed car?”
“He did,” LD answered, still serious. “But you’ll never get him to admit it. He based it on a 1970 Chevy Camaro. Damn, it was sweet. SuNaTran modified the hell out of it. Armor plating, run-flat tires, and Lexan windows.”
“Sounds like a tank.”
“It made the Phantoms appear delicate, and that was just the conventional modifications. The magical ones were insane. That entropic dissolution that melted your Goat would have bounced off this car without leaving a scratch. The last time we spoke, he was trying to find a way to unmake it.”
“Three drivers?” TK asked. “Was that how many?”
“Yeah, three drivers died in that car. That’s why Cecil called, to see if I could go over and disintegrate it. Everything he tried failed.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I said no thank you. The runes he had used were ancient. They were cast in a way that would require a lot more firepower than I have…and I have a lot of firepower. I told him to dig a large hole, drop it in there, and seal it with cement and wards.”
“So what happened to it? Did Cecil drop it into a volcano?”
“No, he did something scarier—he let the car find a driver.”
“What do you mean he let the car find—?”
“We’re here,” TK said, ending the conversation.
NINETEEN
TK PULLED UP to a hangar with the number “20” painted on the side.
Inside, I saw what appeared to be a typical business plane. It was painted in light and dark gray shapes, which I realized was camouflage. I saw no designation numbers, except a large X on the tail. The engines on either side of the tail appeared to be oversized. I looked around and noticed that hangar 20 had no road leading to the runways.
Next to the plane stood three people. I recognized Dex right away. The other two, a man and a woman, I didn’t know. They were both dressed in dark gray combat gear and gave off strong energy signatures. We got out of the Eliminator. Dex looked at Monty, frowned, and turned to LD.
“How long?”
“Two weeks, three on the outside if he keeps the reservoirs full. But he’s your nephew, so we know that won’t happen. The effect of the Black Heart is helping, but that will dissipate in a day or so.”
“And the ice?”
“We got it all but it had already done the damage. It’s possible he’ll get full use of his magical ability back. We did all we could do. Now it’s up to his body’s recovery.”
Peaches got out, stretched his legs, and yawned.
I shook my head and approached Dex. TK had moved to speak to the two people I didn’t know, and LD escorted Monty onto the plane.
I patted my jacket and felt for the flask. “Do you think the Valhalla Java could help Monty?”
Dex placed a hand over mine. “If the runic neutralizer didn’t restore him, the liquid in that flask won’t help. This is more mental than physical at this point.”
“I don’t understand. Monty is a fighter. You’re saying that he doesn’t want to get better?”
“This is going to be a battle on several fronts, lad,” Dex said quietly. “Going home is never easy.”
Peaches nudged me, and Dex noticed. He looked down, smiled, and gestured. A large sausage formed in front of Peaches, who proceeded to munch on the meat.
“I’m going to have to learn how to do that at some point.” I looked down at my insatiable, bottomless pit of a hellhound.
“When we get back, I’ll walk you through the spell.” Dex shook his head and kept looking at Peaches. “After we deal with the Sanctuary.”
“Thank you. I don’t see how going home is making it harder for Monty to get well. I know he wants to get better.”
“He’s going to face some hard truths, truths he’s been avoiding most of his life. Most of them unpleasant.”
“What truths?”
“Let me introduce you to the crew.” Dex grabbed me by the arm and led me to the plane.
“Which one is RJ? What is it with the initials?”
We walked over to the man and woman TK was speaking with. As we approached, TK stepped away, gestured at the Eliminator, and boarded the plane. I heard the familiar clang and thunks of the vehicle locking. A black wave of energy enveloped the car and then faded.
“This is RJ.” Dex pointed with his chin at the pair. He motioned to me with a hand. “This here is Simon Strong, bondmate to the hellhound you see over there devouring the sausage, and close friend to Tristan.”
“This is Kali’s chosen?” The woman sized me up and pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. Her reddish-brown hair was loose under her baseball cap. “I don’t sense any magic from him. How did he bond with a hellhound?”
“René, be polite. It’s clear he’s having a moment.” The man was average height and spoke with a slight accent. His energy signature was as strong as René’s, and I guessed they were both mages. His black hair was cut short, and he wore a cap similar to hers.
“I don’t do polite,” she said. “When have I ever done polite? I’m being civil, aren’t I? Haven’t even had coffee yet, and here I am being civil. I call that a miracle.”
The man extended a hand with a nod. “I’m Jonno, and this is René.”
“I thought RJ was one person, like LD or TK? Do they have actual names?”
Jonno stepped closer and spoke quietly. “If they do, no one knows them. They’ve been LD and TK for as long as I’
ve known them. Maybe Dex knows.”
Dex just stared off into the distance. “Don’t ask me. I don’t know.”
“You are a terrible liar.” I glanced at him and turned back to Jonno. “Are you the pilot?”
“Co-pilot.” He looked over at René. “The Strix is her baby. We’ll be dropping you off at the Sanctuary portal, or as close as possible without getting shot down. It’s been pretty dicey in that neighborhood.”
I shook Jonno’s hand, and René tipped her cap. “Right, then.” She looked me over again. “Let’s get this sorted. I only have one rule: Do not jeopardize the integrity of my bird. If you do, you’ll find yourself freefalling from thirty thousand feet. This goes for you and your hellhound. If he cuts loose while we’re airborne, you’re off the plane. We clear?”
“Perfectly.”
“Good, I need some coffee. I’d like to beat the sun, so take off is in ten. Jonno, I’ll start pre-flight. Get me some coffee or so help me, I will not be responsible for my actions.”
She climbed the stairs and headed into the plane, cursing under her breath.
Jonno looked at me apologetically. “She can be a bit abrasive, but she’s the best pilot in the Ten.”
“She’s the only pilot in the Ten,” Dex added and headed for the stairs. “At least the only one who will fly into the anomaly.”
“Truth,” Jonno said with a smile. “I’d better get her coffee before—”
“Jonno! Coffee!” boomed René’s voice from inside the plane.
Jonno headed to the door on the other side of the hangar with a nod of his head. “Be right back.”
“Where exactly is she flying us?” I climbed the stairs behind Dex as the engines whirred to life. “I noticed there’s no road to the runways.”
“About three hundred kilometers off the coast of Brazil is an island that serves as a nexus. It doesn’t exist on any map. The portal to the Sanctuary is on that island, and we’re going to try and land there.”
“And this is difficult because…?”
Peaches nudged around me and settled on the floor near Monty with a thump.
“The runic interference around the island prevents any type of teleportation. Many have tried, but there have only been three people I know who’ve managed to land an aircraft on the nexus. Two of them are the pilots of this plane.”
“And everyone else?”
“Vaporized on approach.” He settled into a seat and fastened his seatbelt. “You’d better sit down before René takes off.”
TWENTY
“JONNO! I SWEAR, I will leave your sorry ass if you don’t get here with my—”
Jonno poked his head through the doorway with a smile.
“Coffee? Did someone ask for coffee?”
“You barely averted your imminent death.”
I saw that he had extra cups and handed Dex and me one before disappearing into the cockpit. LD and TK were sitting near the rear, speaking to each other in hushed voices. I saw the tension in TK’s face as she sat in her seat.
She was sitting rigid and choking the handrests as black arcs of energy danced around her. LD was speaking to her in a calm tone. She didn’t look at him as she responded.
“TK doesn’t like flying, usually.” Dex sipped his coffee. “She really hates flying with René.”
“Because she’s a suicidal maniac, that’s why,” TK said from the back. “I don’t enjoy the sensation of impending death, unless I’m the one causing it.”
“I heard that!” René answered and slammed the cockpit door shut. A few seconds later, her voice came over the intercom. “This is your captain, the suicidal maniac, advising you to fasten your seatbelts. We will take off in two minutes.”
The Strix rolled out and taxied far enough from the hangar for the tail to clear it. I looked out the window and wondered how we were going to take off, since Teterboro Airport only had two runways, and we weren’t anywhere near them.
I felt the plane lurch back as we lifted off the ground. I looked at the turbines and realized the Strix was a VTOL aircraft, equipped for vertical take-off and landing.
We hovered over the ground for a few seconds before shooting straight up. My stomach sank to the floor. I glanced back and saw TK’s eyes glowing bright green. LD was still speaking to her. Dex was sipping his coffee. Monty was asleep with Peaches by his feet.
The turbines turned, and we started moving forward quickly. This only seemed to agitate TK more, since the glow from the rear of the plane intensified.
Jonno stepped out from the cockpit and sat in the seat opposite Dex.
“Runic interference near the nexus is off the charts.” Jonno took a sip from his coffee. “We’re flying nap-of-the-earth to avoid detection, but that means we have to stay under Mach one.”
“I didn’t think a plane this size could hit any Mach speed.”
“The Strix isn’t supposed to be a VTOL either,” Jonno replied. “Dex, the problem will be landing at the nexus. We’re going to have to go in dark. Which is going to piss off TK to no end. Can you keep an eye on her?”
“I’ll do what I can. Tell René to make it as smooth as possible. How long before we arrive?”
“A few hours at our present velocity.” He looked over at Monty. “Is he going to be okay? He’s not looking well.”
“I’ll be fine,” Monty answered, keeping his eyes closed. “I’ve been advised to conserve as much energy as possible.”
“Sounds like a solid plan.” Jonno nodded and raised an eyebrow. “One more thing. LD told us this was one way. How are you getting back? You can’t stay on the nexus for more than an hour before the runic activity fries all of you.”
“We’re all going through the nexus, but LD and TK will hold the breach at the Sanctuary wall until we finish inside.” Dex locked eyes with Jonno for a few seconds. “Or die trying.”
“Do I need to call the cavalry?” Jonno asked after a pause. “A few of them are in the neighborhood, and the rest can be located fairly quickly.”
Dex shook his head and looked over at Monty. “You’re doing more than I can ask by taking us to the nexus. No, I don’t want this rippling back on the Ten. LD and TK are going to take enough heat for this, but they have the boutique.”
“They can disappear, I know.” Jonno looked to the rear of the plane. LD was holding TK’s hand, and she was resting her head back with her eyes closed. “We can make ourselves pretty scarce, but if they come after us with runic trackers, they’ll find us eventually.”
“This is why you’re only taking us to the nexus. We’ll make our own way back.”
“What do you mean by going in dark?” I had a bad feeling about what he meant, but I wanted to make sure. “That means lights off?”
Jonno gave me a crooked smile. “The energy at the nexus will fry us if it senses any overt runic activity. We have dampeners to combat some of its defenses, but we don’t take any chances. ‘We go dark’ means everything gets shut off, and we glide in with an assist at the end.”
“He’s kidding, right?” I looked at Dex, who wasn’t smiling. “Is he serious? We’re gliding in with an assist?”
“Now you know why TK hates flying with René.”
TWENTY-ONE
JONNO RETURNED TO the cockpit after sharing our landing strategy and scaring the hell out of me. I felt like moving to the back with TK. I wondered if LD could surround me with a shock-absorbing orb in case our landing was by collision with the nexus.
“Over here, lad.” Dex tapped me on the shoulder. “You need something to keep your brain active. Let’s work on your orbs.”
I gave him a look because this was Dex, and I never knew exactly what he meant.
“My what?”
He cupped his hands in front of him and looked at me as if that was supposed to make it clearer. “Your orbs. I hear they’re shriveled up and useless.”
“I don’t think my orbs are any of your business, no offense.” I leaned over and glanced at Monty, who was doing a g
reat job at fake-sleeping, except for the small smile across his lips. “Was this Monty? He’s never seen my orbs.”
“It wasn’t the pup.” Dex looked down at Peaches. “Let’s have it, then, show me what you got.”
I was about to unleash a set of extra colorful curses going back several generations, to my Hispanic maternal grandmother, when Monty interrupted.
“He means your Incantation of Light,” Monty said without turning. I could hear the smile in his voice. “And they do need work, unless you plan on unleashing anemic raisins at accomplished mages who will blast you where you stand.”
“They’re getting better,” I lied. “Now they’re almost the size of apples.”
“Perhaps upon seeing your desiccated Apples of Destructive Might, the Sanctuary mages will surrender to your greater magical ability.” He turned to face me. “Show my uncle your almighty Incantation of Light orb.”
“Well, of course I mean his Incantation of Light.” Dex looked at Monty, confused. “What else would I mean?”
I held my hand out and focused.
“Igniscoruscanti,” I whispered, forming an orb of violet energy. It was about the size of a grapefruit and hovered in my palm. I felt the energy race up my arm and suffuse my body with warmth.
I looked at Monty with a smug smile as he glanced down at my hand and pointed. I felt the orb begin to shrink. It kept shrinking until it was the size of a grape. I concentrated and imagined pumping energy into it. The next second, it popped like a soap bubble and disappeared.
Dex nodded for a few seconds, trying to keep a straight face. He burst into laughter after I stared at him.
“I’m sorry, lad,” he said in-between guffaws. “That was the saddest orb I have ever seen. How did you make it pop like that at the end?”
“I think you may be suffering from premature orb formation,” Monty said seriously as Dex held his breath. “Sometimes those orbs are hard to keep firm.”
Dex burst into laughter again.
“Oh, you two are hilarious,” I snapped back. “I see this incredible sense of humor is a genetic defect.”
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