Alphas and Airships

by Melanie Karsak

  “Um, the cliff of doom here,” I said.

  “Look for a ladder on the cliff wall.”

  I looked over the ledge. There, metal rungs had been worked into the cavern wall. I cast my gaze down. It was…far.

  Sighing, I slid onto my belly then grabbed the first rung. “It’s a climb,” I told Agent Harper. “And whomever Agent Walsh is, I am already planning to do very, very bad things to him.”

  “Clemeny…”

  “Don’t. Say. Anything,” I said, but I had to chuckle. It was a good prank, but very evil at the same time.

  As Harper and I climbed down, soft music came to my ears. I distinctly made out the sound of a pipe. The ghostly tune resonated throughout the cavern.

  “The piper,” Agent Harper said.

  “Piper?”

  “Yeah, haven’t you ever heard the story of the piper of Edinburgh Castle? A young boy found the caverns underneath the castle. He went in to map them, playing a pipe as he went so people above ground could hear him. But then his piping mysteriously stopped.”

  “So, you’re saying that’s the sound of a ghost I’m hearing?”

  “No, Shadow Watch has a paleophone playing in the tunnels under the castle. It scares away anyone who gets too curious.”

  “Splendid.”

  “Their headquarters really are under the castle in the bedrock. I swear. That’s why I didn’t question the entrance instructions. I’m sorry, Clemeny.”

  I chuckled. “Don’t worry. It’s not you I’m annoyed with.”

  After a climb, we reached the cavern floor. I was surprised to see the flicker of a gaslamp in a narrow passage. Due to the way the tunnel bent, I hadn’t noticed the passage from above.

  “There?” I asked Agent Harper.

  She nodded.

  We headed across the cave and into the illuminated tunnel. Gaslamps lit the path. We wound through the darkness until we met with another metal door. Agent Harper pulled out another metal card, this one a bit larger, and slipped it into a slot.

  We heard a chime on the other side.

  After a few minutes, the metal door opened to reveal a wooden entryway that looked much like a formal waiting room. To my surprise, a woman sat at a desk working busily on some paperwork. She looked up at us.

  “Names?” she asked primly.

  “Agents Harper and Louvel, Red Cape Society. We’re here to meet Agent Walsh,” Harper said.

  The woman’s lips twitched as she suppressed a smirk.

  I gave Harper a knowing glance.

  She winced.

  The woman pulled out a clipboard and ran her finger along the paper thereon. She nodded to us. “Very good,” she said then pulled a lever on the ground beside her.

  My legs shook as the room suddenly jerked. A moment later, the entire room spun on its axis, a move my ginger- and stout-filled stomach seriously disliked. A moment later, the room turned to reveal the underground headquarters of the Shadow Watch.

  Chapter 9: Castle Rock

  “Welcome to Castle Rock,” the attendant said, waving for us to step into the room.

  Stretched out before us was a massive workroom. Agents in their black and silver kilts worked at their desks or moved quickly to and from the offices off the main room. There was a spiral staircase at the center of the room, wide enough for four people, which extended beyond the ceiling of volcanic rock overhead. Agents hurried up and down the steps.

  I pulled off my night optic and slipped on my eyepatch before anyone else had a chance to see me.

  A squat man with broad shoulders, a bald head, and a massive mustache over a neatly trimmed beard crossed the room to greet us.

  “Agent Harper?”

  Harper nodded and stuck out her hand. “That’s me.”

  “I’m Agent Walsh,” he said, shaking her hand.

  “Ah, Agent Walsh. Junior Agent Harper told me it’s you we should thank for the instructions on how to enter Shadow Watch. Thank you for that.”

  Agent Walsh smiled at me, his grin wide and toothy. “Agent Louvel. I only just learned Harper was accompanying you. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” he said then shook my hand. His grip was firm, but his expression was playful.

  “Indeed,” I replied, giving his firm handshake an extra hard squeeze.

  Agent Walsh laughed as he eyed the pelt on my belt. “Rumor is true then? I tangled with Fenton once. Nice to see he learned to mind his place.”

  “All tricksters do in time,” I said, passing Agent Walsh a wink.

  Agent Walsh grinned then let me go. “I’ll keep that in mind. Granted, I didn’t know who Harper was coming with when I sent along the, um, instructions. Now, this way, agents. Agent MacGregor is expecting you,” he said then led us toward the stairwell.

  As I glanced around the room, I noticed that Shadow Watch’s headquarters were roughly half the size of that of the Red Cape Society. But the agents themselves struck me as looking more like battle-hardened warriors. It made sense. Shadow Watch tangled with some of the worst preternaturals in the land. Demons and other nasty buggers had a tendency to pop up beyond Hadrian’s Wall. And from what I’d heard, Agent Edwin Hunter was the most feared demon hunter in the realm.

  Agent Walsh led us up the spiral staircase to the second floor. We emerged in what appeared to be the lower level of Edinburgh Castle. The walls and floors were covered in hardwood. Agent Walsh led us down a hallway to a door labeled with Agent MacGregor’s—Shadow Watch’s lead agent—name. This was the position Agent Hunter had previously held.

  Agent Walsh knocked on the door. “Sir, Red Capes are here.”

  “Come,” a voice called.

  Agent Walsh entered, motioning for us to follow along behind him.

  Agent McGregor rose to greet us. He was a tall man with thinning black hair and a hawkish expression. His eyes were an icy blue color. I gazed around the room. It hadn’t taken long for him to redecorate. The coat of arms for Clan MacGregor, paintings of ancestral castles, and a large portrait of Rob Roy MacGregor hung on the walls.

  “Agent Harper and Agent Louvel,” Agent MacGregor said, looking from one to the other of us in turn, his eyes briefly scanning the eyepatch on my face. He motioned for us to sit. “So, what can you tell me about the menace I’ve got overhead?”

  I sunk into the seat. “The airship Fenrir,” I said.

  Agent MacGregor folded his fingers into a steeple and bobbed them gently against his lips.

  “Wolves, of course. Painting themselves as Vikings. Managed to meet their captain a few hours back. Hulking beast, blond, lots of tattoos, very Norse. His name is Zayde Skollson.”

  “Airship Vikings?” Agent Walsh said in surprise. “That’s a first. These days, nobody expects a Viking invasion.”

  “No, they do not,” I concurred with a soft chuckle. “Apparently Zayde Skollson fancies himself the alpha of the aether.”

  Agent MacGregor exhaled slowly as he considered.

  “Sir, if Shadow Watch would be kind enough to take Agent Louvel and me back up, I have triangulated the airship Fenrir’s movements, and I believe—” Harper began.

  “You encountered the airship captain. Here? In the city?” Agent MacGregor asked, cutting Harper short as he turned to me.

  I stilled. Maybe it was the crawl through the tunnel or the post-stout headache that was forming, but the slight to Harper agitated me. I turned to my partner. “As Agent Harper was saying, she has triangulated the airship Fenrir’s movements. Once we go back up, we know where to hunt him.”

  “I see,” Agent MacGregor answered. He kept his gaze firm, but it was clear he had not missed my cue. “We’ll make the arrangements for that. Very good, Agent Harper.”

  “And yes, I did meet Zayde Skollson in the city. As one expects, he threatened my life, lured me into a dark district, then loped off. Typical posturing. All it means is that he’s nervous. And he should be. Agent Harper has leveraged us an advantage.”

  “Yes. Well. I’m just surprised the scoundrel
showed up here in the city. Agent Harper, where have you placed him?”

  Agent Harper pulled out her map. “May I set this out?” she asked.

  Agent MacGregor motioned for her to use a round worktable in the corner. Rising, we followed Harper as she laid out her map. “You see, I have noted the locations of the attacks. It seems that wherever their base is, it can’t be far from this area. They’re hunting the trade routes, but only within this circumference,” she said, noting a circle she’s drawn on the map.

  I looked at the map. “What’s this?” I asked, pointing to a tiny green spot amongst the blue.

  “Fair Isle,” Agent Walsh said. “In the Shetlands.”

  “Isn’t that where the airship crew you interviewed in London spotted her?”

  Agent Harper nodded. “We should scout this area.”

  Agent MacGregor nodded. “Let’s see what we can find,” he said then turned to Agent Walsh. “Ask Captain Martin to take her up again. This time, more guns.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And Agent Louvel, do be careful poking around Edinburgh. Our dark district is a bit unsettled at the moment. Some shifts of power taking place. I believe you just went through the same kind of commotion in London.”

  “Yes, sir. With the werewolves’ alpha.”

  Agent MacGregor nodded. “I wish werewolves were our only problem.”

  “Seems you do have a unique set of preternaturals in Scotland. I met my first kelpie tonight.”

  Both Agent Walsh and Agent MacGregor became deathly still.

  “What did you say?” Agent Walsh asked.

  “I…I said I met a kelpie.”

  “A kelpie? Where?”

  “I met him at a pub. In fact, he saved my arse from a patch of trouble.”

  Both looking astonished, the two agents looked from one another to me.

  “He said his name was Eideard,” I added.

  “And he lent you a hand? Did he know who you were?”

  “Yes, he did. In fact, he bought me a drink at the pub. Though I think he was just trying to make sure I left him alone. Ran across him again in the dark district. The wolves didn’t seem very interested in tangling with him. Why? What’s the problem?”

  Agent MacGregor shook his head in astonishment. “You, Agent Louvel, are fortunate to be alive.”

  “But he’s just a shifter.”

  “That he is, when he isn’t busy paddling around Loch Ness,” Agent MacGregor said then turned to Agent Walsh. “Let Ailith know her boy was spotted in the city. She needs to get him rounded up and headed back home before he upsets the balance of things worse than they already are. Christ, Eideard. Why now of all times?”

  “From what I saw, it looked like he had an itch to scratch,” I said with a slight grin.

  Catching my meaning, Agent Walsh chuckled. “That would do it. I’ll let Agent Monroe know, sir,” he told his boss.

  Agent MacGregor nodded. “Very good, Agents. Agent Walsh will see to it you are aloft by tomorrow. Please let us know if you need anything else,” Agent MacGregor said then went back to his desk.

  “This way,” Agent Walsh said then led us back into the main room. We went to a lift on the far side of the room. Once we stepped inside, Agent Walsh activated a lever, and the wooden wall panels closed behind us.

  “Agent Walsh, are you telling us that Agent Louvel met the Loch Ness monster?” Agent Harper asked, unable to hide the astonishment in her voice.

  Agent Walsh chuckled. “Indeed she did. Old Eideard is the oldest cryptid in the realm and stronger than any werewolf alive. And he hates us. Must have been something about you he liked, Agent Louvel,” he said then gave me a curious look. “Otherwise, you’d be dead. Lucky.”

  When the lift came to a stop, it chimed, and the doors opened to reveal a narrow passageway which, from the look of the stone walls, carpets, and oil paintings, was on an upper floor of Edinburgh Castle. A well-armed castle guard stood waiting.

  “See them out, George,” Agent Walsh told the guard standing there then turned to us. “Expect someone at the inn tomorrow. I’ll make the arrangements. And Agent Louvel, try not to unbalance the entire preternatural society in Scotland in a single night,” he said with a wink then tugged on a lever, closing the lift door behind him.

  “This way, Agents,” the guard said.

  “What was that about?” Agent Harper whispered to me.

  “Which part?”

  “You know, the bit about the shifts of power, the unbalanced society, and the… waterhorse. I thought they were going to faint,” she said then laughed.

  I smirked. “So did I.”

  Agent Harper shook her head. “First Lionheart and now that creature. You certainly have a way with them, Clemeny. I wonder why.”

  “Like Walsh said. Luck, I guess.”

  “Hmm,” Agent Harper mused.

  I frowned. Eideard hadn’t seemed that bad. Wary, yes. Dangerous, perhaps. But hateful? Not to me, at least. Maybe it was the way I thought about the preternaturals that set me apart. I didn’t know about Eideard, but Sir Richard Spencer had once been human. Most of the preternaturals were, after all, just people. Just people who’d been modified. As such, they ranged from good to bad. Hell, even the vampire Constantine—wherever he’d gone—still had some of his humanity left in him.

  However, I knew not all my colleagues saw them like that. Some only saw the monster. And many, like Cyril and Fenton, deserved it. But not all of them.

  The guard led us through a series of hallways, behind a tapestry, through a narrow passage, across the kitchens, through a garden, and finally, to the front of Edinburgh Castle.

  With a nod, he left us there.

  Grinning, I looked at Agent Harper. “Told you they had a front entrance.”

  Rolling her eyes at me, we turned and headed back into the city. That single exasperated gesture filled my heart with hope. Maybe this partnership would work out after all.

  Chapter 10: Ginger Brew

  It was around two in the morning when we finally returned to the inn.

  “I’m going to go over my notes again. Want to join me?” Agent Harper asked as she unlocked the door to her room.

  “Considering I didn’t have the luxury of a lengthy nap, I’ll pass.”

  Harper scrunched up her brow. “Sorry, Clemeny. I—”

  I clapped her on the shoulder. “No worries.”

  “Thank you. And back at Shadow Watch, when Agent MacGregor brushed me off… Thanks for that too.”

  I shrugged. “It was nothing. But next time, speak up. Show them the steel in your spine, and you won’t be sent down a cave tunnel again.”

  Harper grinned at me. “Thanks, Clemeny. Goodnight.”

  I nodded to her. “Goodnight,” I said then headed to my room.

  Once inside, I went to the window and looked out. It was quiet on the street below. My sixth sense didn’t feel the unseen. I watched the few stragglers still meandering up and down the street. What, exactly, was unbalanced in Scotland that had everyone so on edge? Not my beat. Not my problem.

  Pulling off my cloak, I tossed it on the corner of my bed then sat down at the dressing table. I looked in the mirror. Leaning in, I inspected my split lip. The wound had sealed, but the lip was puffy and discolored. I pulled off my eyepatch and set it on the table. Sitting back, I took a long look at myself. I wasn’t sure how, but when Fenton had scratched me, he had also damaged the roots of my hair. My previously black hair was now streaked white. Three long scars went from my hairline, across my face, and onto my cheek.

  I looked at my mooneye. There was no color left, just white. I was lucky that I could still see something, even if it was only shadows. But still. The truth was, I’d been disfigured. The girl in the mirror, one I barely recognized as myself, was a mess.

  Sighing, I rose and went to the bed. Pulling off my silver vambraces, I lay down. My head on my pillow, my dagger in one hand and a pistol in the other, I willed myself to sleep, reminding myself tha
t I’d be aloft tomorrow once more.

  And I was almost out of candied ginger.

  It was still early when Captain Martin arrived the next morning. The fog had barely lifted off the streets and the lamplighters were working their way down the Royal Mile.

  Reluctantly, I got myself ready then joined Agent Harper and Captain Martin who were already waiting downstairs.

  “G’morning, Agents. We’re docked at the towers,” Captain Martin said, motioning to the Edinburgh Towers. “Ah, Agent Louvel, I have something for you. My wife sent it along.”

  “Your wife, sir?”

  Captain Martin smiled. “I told my wife I finally met someone who gets more airsick that her. When she heard I was taking you back up, she told me to bring you this,” he said, handing me a flask.

  I took it. “What is it?”

  “Well, I don’t know for sure, but I do know my house smelled like mint and ginger while it was brewing. The cat sneezed all night long. She said to tell you to sip it as needed.”

  I chuckled. “Please give your wife my thanks.”

  He nodded.

  As we walked, I opened the lid on the flask and gave it a sniff. The strong scents of ginger, mint, and other herbs assailed my nose, making me wince. I took a small sip. The concoction was so strong my sinuses cleared at once.

  I pushed the flask toward Harper. She lifted it and took a sniff. Handing it back, she shook her head no so violently I thought she might hurt herself.

  Once we arrived at the airship towers, we took the lift up. Maybe it was just the anticipation of being aloft once more, but I could already feel the unsteady sway as we made our way down the platform toward the Jacobite. When we climbed aboard the airship, it became clear that Agent MacGregor’s request for more guns had been heard loud and clear. This time, it seemed, we were travelling with a small army.

  I grinned, wondering what Quinn would think about this turn of events. No doubt, he would have complained about them getting in the way. But Quinn never had to chase werewolves through the sky before.