Clipped Wings

by J. P. Rice

  Chapter 12

  I walked back to my car with the phone pressed against my ear. In my other hand, I rubbed Cerberus’ tooth with my thumb.

  “Hello?” a raspy voice answered and yawned.

  “Jonathan?”

  He cleared his throat and said, “Yes. Didn’t expect you to call. I thought you’d be in Sleepy Willow by now.”

  I spoke in a panic, “I’m here at the valley where the portal is supposed to be and it’s not here.”

  “Slow down. What do you mean it isn’t there?” he asked slowly with a bite of anger attached to his question.

  “I mean there’s no fucking portal in this fucking valley,” I yelled. I didn’t intend to go all Dean Keaton from The Usual Suspects on him, but there was no fucking coke on this fucking ship.

  “All right.” He paused for a few moments and spoke in a calm tone, “Let’s settle down for a moment. Are you sure it hasn’t been moved?”

  “I just searched for over an hour for the fucking thing. How could it just disappear?” I asked frantically. I couldn’t settle down when the object I needed to save my mentor just up and walked away.

  “I doubt it just disappeared. Someone could have taken it.”

  “How? I thought they couldn’t be moved.”

  Jonathan explained, “Someone well versed in magic could compact it and carry it away like it was a feather. It would take someone extremely powerful though. Are you sure you’re in the right place?”

  “I followed those directions to a T. I’m in the right place and it isn’t here. You can come check it out for yourself if you want.”

  “I trust you.” The vampire sighed. “Maybe I’ll send a few of my men out there to check it out. More eyes looking around can’t hurt. If it has been stolen, the list of suspects would be endless. A portal to get into Sleepy Willow has a nice value to it.”

  I didn’t understand. “How could it have a value? Aren’t there other portals to Sleepy Willow out there?”

  “There sure are. However, this old vampire doesn’t know of any of them. How about you?”

  I thought about how Kobayashi had created a portal to escape from the police station. I’d also witnessed Blodeuwedd create a portal for the Deep Burrow. “I can ask around, but I’ve never heard of another one.”

  He yawned again and said, “Right there is the value. People, for whatever strange reason, like to go to Sleepy Willow. The thief could be charging to transfer bodies to the otherworld. It also has a great value to vampires. I won’t go into details right now, but we need to figure this out. It could be halfway across the world by now.”

  Fuck. I really didn’t have time to solve a mystery right now. Especially considering the list of suspects was endless. Where could I even start? “Send your men out here to look again. I’ll search the area for clues and then I’ll contact Blodeuwedd. I’ll get her to talk to all the birds to see if my avian connection knows anything about this. I don’t have my whistle to beckon her with me, so I have to drive home and get it.”

  “Why don’t you give me a call after you talk to her and we can go from there,” Jonathan suggested.

  “Sounds good. Hopefully, this won’t take too long to figure out.” As soon as the words escaped my mouth, I felt like I’d just jinxed us. Nothing ever went according to plan or was solved quickly.

  I searched the valley between the two mountains again and came up dry. Finding used condoms, cigarette butts and shotgun shells didn’t count.

  After an hour, I was completely frustrated, gave up searching and went to my car. I cruised home in record time. Burn and Dante were out, which was odd, so I ran up to my room. I kicked the door open and went immediately to my dresser.

  As I opened the middle drawer, a ray of sunshine crept in my window and shone down on the golden whistle. I opened the window and stuck my head outside into the cool winter air. Placing the device to my lips, I took in a breath. I blew into the whistle and tried to get my bottom lip to vibrate to create a mellifluous tune.

  Unfortunately, it came out like all my previous attempts. Shrill and unharmonious. Luckily, the sound didn’t matter because it had attracted Blodeuwedd before.

  As I waited, I decided to call Felix and see if he wanted to come along for the trip to Sleepy Willow. I dialed his number and put the phone to my ear.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey buddy, how’s it going?”

  “Fine. What’s going on?” he asked, disinterested.

  Enough beating around the bush. “I found out Alayna was alive, so I need to make a trip to Sleepy Willow.”

  “What’s that got to do with me?” he asked, even more disinterested.

  What a prick. I told him, “Well, I remember that plan you had a few days ago and wondered if you wanted to join me.”

  “Why would I want to go on a death wish again for nothing?” he asked, and then crunched into his fingernail, causing me to cringe. He really needed to kick that disgusting habit.

  Apparently, saving Alayna meant nothing to him if it didn’t involve money. “For your favorite thing in the world. Cash money. In this case it will probably be gold though. Once we unseat the king, you can have at his stash if you’d like.”

  “Hmmm. That’s interesting.” Suddenly, there was life in his voice. I could picture him standing up and nodding his head in deliberation. “When are you going?”

  “That is a slight problem. Do you know anything about a stolen portal to Sleepy Willow?”

  Felix said, “First I’m hearing of it right now.”

  “Well, I have to find the portal before we leave. I’m hoping it will only take a few days, but I can’t be sure.” One could never be sure in this game.

  “I’m going to Seattle with Fukutama on Sunday. That’s six days from now. How long do you think the trip to Sleepy Willow will take?”

  He knew how this shit went. Why would he even ask that? I said, “Less than last time. I have a plan to cut the travel time down once we are there. With that said, you of all people understand that it might take longer.”

  “Here’s the deal. If you can find the portal within three days, I’ll roll with you. But we need to take that return potion again. If the mission takes too long, I might have to bust out. I can’t miss this trip to see my parents.”

  It just so happened that I’d crafted a new batch of return potion that would send the person to my backyard. “I understand. I’m going to need some food and water pills like we talked about, so don’t forget that. And I’ll keep you posted on what’s going on.”

  “All righty then. I’ll talk to you.”

  “Later,” I said and hung up the phone.

  Due to his time crunch, I didn’t anticipate Felix would be able to go with me. I didn’t want to go alone, but I also didn’t want to take a pregnant Burn. Jonathan wouldn’t go with me. What about Glenda? I didn’t need to call her right now, but she was a good option to have.

  I heard beating wings and turned to my open window. An owl flew in through the opening and landed on my bedroom floor. Blodeuwedd said, “I like the new place. Much nicer, and it’s secluded. Much better than that old duplex.”

  I still hadn’t gotten used to hearing the Goddess’s voice coming from the owl. “I agree. So I have something I need you to check out.”

  “Ooohhhh. Sounds intriguing.”

  “The portal for Sleepy Willow in the Appalachian valley is missing. Do you know the one I’m talking about?”

  “Are you speaking of the one in Somerset County?” she asked as she waddled over to my bookshelf.

  “Yes. Would you be able to create one of those like you did back at Trillium Trail?”

  “I can only make them for the Deep Burrow, sorry.” Her wings started to beat and she flew up onto the top shelf.

  “It was worth a try. Without that option, I wondered if you could round up your avian buddies and see if you could find some clues. I searched the area around the portal pretty well and Jonathan, the vampire from the Purple House
, is sending some of his guys up there to search too. So if you see any vampires lurking around the scene, don’t worry about it.”

  Her owl head snapped to the left, staring at me with her yellow eyes. “Good warning because I’m not very fond of vampires. I’ll put the word out and we should be able to get to the bottom of this. You are the talk of Clara Spiritus right now, by the way.”

  The Gods were talking about little ole me? “Wait. What?”

  “Oh yeah. Everyone’s talking about your epic trip to hell. Where’s Darkwing?” she asked, looking around the room.

  “She’s out in the yard with my other dog right now. Are you saying the Gods are impressed?”

  “Careful, your head is inflating like a balloon.” She jumped down from the shelf. “They are impressed that you could obtain the tooth of Cerberus and return no worse for wear.”

  The trip had fucked with my head. “All the damage I suffered in hell was mental, not physical. Are they still pissed about Artoise?”

  “Surprisingly, no.” She flew up onto my bed and nestled her head against my pillow. “Nice and soft. Where was I? Oh, most of the men argue that he was terrible at being a guardian angel. We are trying to assign a new guardian angel to you, so you aren’t hanging in limbo, unprotected.”

  “You never know with Artoise. He might just show up out of the blue.” I had to raise the possibility. However, I knew the odds were good that he would never return once he got a taste of some debauchery in Pittsburgh.

  Blodeuwedd stood up straight and said, “That is why we aren’t being hasty with assigning you a new angel. It would be quite awkward if Artoise returned to find out he’d been replaced.”

  “I understand. I also need you to stress the importance of this to the birds of Pittsburgh. The clock is ticking with Alayna. I need to get that portal so I can save her. Every second counts.”

  She jumped down off the bed and walked toward the window. “Then we should end this small talk so I can put the word out. Lovely time, as always, Micheal Anthony.”

  Her wings beat slowly at first and then sped up gradually. A sudden wind burst hit me and Blodeuwedd rose off the floor and scooted out the window, soaring high into the bright sky and quickly disappearing from sight.

  The next day, I hung out in my backyard with Burn and Dante, impatiently waiting for Blodeuwedd to return with some info about the portal. I tossed a football to Dante, who caught it and threw it back to me. The kid was a natural athlete, quickly picking up most sports.

  Normally, I enjoyed peaceful family activities like this. But I was on edge today. If Blodeuwedd couldn’t come through, I didn’t have any more resources to employ. Jonathan’s vampires hadn’t found any clues around the scene of the crime, so we had nothing to go on.

  I threw a perfect spiral to Dante, and as I tracked the ball in the air, I noticed a white blur streaking across the cerulean background. An owl flew toward my house and circled the perimeter. Blodeuwedd. Perfect timing.

  “I got to go,” I said, gesturing toward the house.

  Burn caught sight of Blodeuwedd and I tossed her the pigskin. I jogged over to the house and Blodeuwedd met me on the porch. The Goddess shifted into human form wearing her feathered cloak that covered her milky skin. Her blond hair was wild today, unencumbered by her normal floral headdress.

  “Hello, my friend.”

  “Hi Blodeuwedd.” It still felt weird addressing the Gods and Goddesses casually.

  “I may have something for you. I’m not sure if it is about the missing portal or not. It was found near where you parked your car when you went to the portal. It appears to be a business card of sorts.” She reached into her cloak and produced a small brown card with black symbols on it.

  I grabbed it from her extended hand and studied the writing. It looked like chicken scratch. “Do you know what it says?”

  She shook her head and paced on my porch, gazing out into the backyard. “I do not. I want to say it’s Sanskrit or Tibetan. I could take it to the Gods and we could figure it out.”

  I thought Gods were supposed to be all knowing. Why didn’t Blodeuwedd have the ability to read different languages? “No. That would take too long. I know someone who should be able to figure it out.”

  With Jonathan’s age and career in antique sales, I had a feeling he might be able to decipher it. I held up the card and said, “Thank you for this. I hate to run out on you, but I need to figure this out.”

  “I totally understand,” she said, as I stared at the card, foolishly hoping that the words would suddenly jump out at me.

  When I peered up from the card, Blodeuwedd was already back in owl form, wings beating and ready to take off. “Until we meet again.”

  I waved at her as she rose off the porch and veered left, entering the woods surrounding my house. Jonathan was probably still asleep, but he would want to hear about this. I pulled out my phone and dialed the vampire. Surprisingly, he was already awake and told me to stop by with the card.

  I walked over to Burn and Dante. As I neared them, I said, “That was the clue I was looking for. But I have to go see Jonathan to understand it better.” I showed Burn the card, “You don’t recognize this language, do you?”

  She took the card from me, her fingers scraping gently against mine. “I’m not sure what this is. I never really studied many languages. This one looks ancient.”

  “I agree.” I knelt in front of Dante. “Hey buddy, I have to go now. Keep practicing with the football. You’re getting really good already, so keep it up. I’ll see you in a little while, all right? High five.” I put an open hand up and Dante slapped it with his palm.

  I stood up and gave Burn a hug. I whispered, “I’m not sure how long this will take.”

  She whispered back, “I know. I’ve seen you in action before. Be safe.”

  “I will.” Although being safe was not my specialty. My specialty was recklessness with a blatant disregard for my own safety.

  I’d already started feeling bad about telling Dante I would be right back. In reality, I had no idea when I would be back. Or if I would return in a body bag. It was great having Burn around permanently, but I didn’t want to be an absentee dad, like my father.

  With thoughts of abandoning my new family weighing on me, I got into my car and went to Jonathans.

  Chapter 13

  I sat down in Jonathan’s office as he walked over to his desk, staring intently at the business card. “I’m not familiar with this, I’m ashamed to say. I want to say it’s Tibetan. I do have someone who should know.”

  Jonathan sat down at his huge desk and loosened his tie. Dressed in a dark purple suit that bordered on black, the vampire picked up his phone receiver and pressed a button on the base. “Lexis, hello. I need you to find Roman and escort him to my office please. Thank you.”

  I assumed Roman was Del Rubio’s first name, not for any particular reason, just a hunch. Roman Del Rubio had a nice ring to it.

  Jonathan hung up but kept the receiver near his face. Our eyes met and I looked away quickly. He could read minds and I didn’t need to give him an open gateway.

  He picked up the phone again and asked, “Your usual?”

  “Not this time. I thought I told you I couldn’t drink anymore.”

  He pressed a few buttons on the phone base. “That’s right. I can’t believe you’re still on that kick. It seems I’m becoming forgetful in my seventh century on this earth.” He held up his finger and spoke into the receiver, “This is Jonathan. Send me my usual drink in my office please.”

  On this earth? What the hell did he mean by that? “Even if we can read this card, it might not have anything to do with the stolen portal. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

  Jonathan pushed his phone back across his huge mahogany desk and picked up a little remote control. He pushed a few buttons and the soft purr of heavy metal came from the hidden speakers. He tossed the remote back onto the desk. “We need to figure out something posthaste. Let�
��s just say that the Purple House did a volume of business endeavors with Sleepy Willow. This disappearance has caused some shortages, shall I say.”

  I didn’t understand why Jonathan felt the need to beat around the bush with me. “Just tell me what’s going on. Just be straight with me.”

  He spoke in a reserved manner, devoid of his natural confidence, “You know that we do business with the blood banks, right?”

  “Of course. That’s like the only thing I can hold over your head,” I reminded him, flashing a smile.

  Jonathan’s stern, stoic face didn’t seem to appreciate the joke. He spoke in monotone, “Yes. You’ve reminded me many times.” He sat back, kicked his feet up on his desk, and spoke normally, “Let’s just say that the banks haven’t been satisfying our needs. So we found some new partners in Sleepy Willow who could get it for us.”

  I hated to hear that. Sleepy Willow had the reputation of draining blood from people whether they’d volunteered or not. They were known as the Blood Hustlers. They kept humans in cells, forced them to work endlessly and took blood from them every day. It was like a giant prison of enslaved blood donors. A fucking concentration camp. This created a moral dilemma for me.

  The Blood Hustlers would come up to the earth’s surface when they needed new donors. They used the shanghai method of getting the humans drunk and then kidnapping them. Before the victims knew what was going on, they were locked in a cell in Sleepy Willow.

  I didn’t like that Jonathan was supporting these monsters. But this was the messy world I’d involved myself in. Nothing was simply black or white. And nobody seemed to share a moral code with me. Sometimes, I had to shove that code aside, but never forget about it, to solve a case for the betterment of humanity.

  A knock on the door caused me to turn around in my chair to see who it was. After my last trip here, I was public enemy number one and could get attacked at any time, even with Jonathan in the room. I primed my magic to bring it out of hibernation.

  The door opened toward us and Lexis walked inside. She announced, “Roman is here to see you now.” She carried Jonathan’s drink over to his desk.