Spies in the Dark (The Nightcrafters Book 2)

by Ramsey Isler

  “Good morning,” I said.

  “Morning,” Newton said as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes. “What’s for breakfast?”

  “I have soy milk and oatmeal. I think.”

  “That’ll work,” Newton said. “But please tell me you have some brown sugar.”

  Turns out, I did actually have brown sugar in the pantry. I had just grabbed it during my first shopping binge to fill the empty cupboards. I’ve never been much of a chef, but Newton took over and made some damn good oatmeal with the ingredients I had. It was sweet, creamy, and buttery. It was the best oatmeal I’d ever had.

  “Cooking is just chemistry,” Newton said as I happily ate. “You combine the necessary components, add exact levels of heat and pressure, time it all just right, and you get an end product that’s a transformation of your original ingredients.”

  “You’re a huge dork,” I said, smiling. “But I have to say, you did wonders with the random crap I had in the kitchen. If I’d known chemistry could taste this good I would’ve paid more attention in high school.”

  “We both know your high school years were a lost cause regardless,” Newton said with a smirk.

  “Probably true,” I said.

  “Not that I’m an expert on high school life,” Newton said. “I was only at Kennedy High for like a year and a half before I graduated early. Never had time for things like homecoming and prom and whatever else it is that normal teenagers do. I’m assuming your school days were different.”

  “School was just a place where I killed time,” I said. “I was an average student. No sports. The whole high school experience just seemed boring to me.”

  “Not surprised,” Newton said. “But then you got to escape all that and learn magic. There isn’t an education more exciting than that.”

  “Probably true,” I said. “But, just like you, I did end up missing out on a lot of normal stuff. I didn’t even graduate. It just wasn’t something I thought would be an issue once I learned magic, you know? Now I find myself with no high school diploma and limited career options.”

  “There’s still time to fix that,” Newton said. “You’re young. There are plenty of schools around here. Or private instructors. NATO will hook you up.”

  “Yeah. I guess we’ll just have to see about that when the time comes.”

  Newton nodded. “You ready to get back to work?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Today I am. We’ll see about tomorrow, but today it’s back to business.”

  “Okay then,” Newton said. “Do you think the nightcrafters will figure out we’re going to put a RID up on the observation deck?”

  “I don’t see how they could possibly know,” I said.

  “Good. The new unit is almost ready. I’m going to finish it over the next couple of days, but the trick is going to be keeping it in the air where the hotspot is. That building makes for a nice big platform that we can put stuff on when we’re on this side of the Rift, but on the dark side I don’t know if there’s anything to keep the RID at the right elevation for long periods of time.”

  “When I put objects into the Rift using the old spell, they stay right where I put them for a while,” I said. “I’m not exactly sure how long they stay that way, but I’d guess it’s not permanent. You probably do need something to keep the RID in the air.”

  “I can put some vertical thrusters on it, but they won’t run forever.”

  “We don’t need forever,” I said. “We can periodically go back and swap out the engines or refuel or whatever. As long as I know roughly where the object is on the other side, I can pull it back over here.”

  “That could work,” Newton said. “But it also increases the likelihood that we’ll be discovered.”

  “You got any better options?”

  “I do not,” Newton said. He shoved a few more spoonfuls of oatmeal into his mouth and looked thoughtful while he chewed. When he finished he said, “Unless you know a spell that makes things float perpetually.”

  “I don’t.”

  “Hold on a minute,” Newton said. His face had that expression I’d come to know well over the last few months. He was scheming something.

  “You do know how to make things lighter,” he said, “and you know how to make things move on their own. You showed me that little trick back in the lab a while ago. The one with the flying sheet of paper.”

  “I see what you’re getting at,” I said. “You’re saying I could cast a featherweight spell on the RID, then you create some sort of setup that I can cast a flight spell on.”

  “Exactly,” Newton said. “It might take a few tries but it should work and it’s powered by magic so we don’t need to worry about running out of fuel. The setup should last indefinitely.”

  “I do believe that will work,” I said.

  “Okay then,” Newton said. “This sounds like a plan. I’ll work on the engineering, and I’ll give you a call when I’m ready to have you come in and test out the magic. But in the meantime, you’ll be making nice with our new boss.”

  “Huh?” I said. “What do you mean?”

  “You were asleep when the message came in,” Newton said. “Check your phone.”

  “You’re just now telling me about this?” I said as I ran over to the coffee table to retrieve my phone.

  “It’s early,” Newton said, “I wanted to make sure you had a nice start to your day before dealing with more of this craziness.”

  I opened the message on my phone. It was simple, and maddeningly short.

  “New department head appointment: Cecil Astforth. Report to room 1202 at headquarters at 3pm tomorrow for briefing.”

  “Cecil Astforth?” I said. “Do you know him?”

  “Never heard of him,” Newton answered. “And they’re not asking me to meet him. You’re supposed to be my liaison and I’m to have little direct access to him.”

  “Do you find that odd?” I asked.

  Newton laughed. “Have you forgotten what we do? Odd is ordinary.”

  * * *

  “You look older than your file photo.” Those were the first words Cecil Astforth ever said to me.

  I was in his new office, having dutifully showed up as requested. I even showed up early, which I almost never do. I was trying my damnedest to get things with the new boss off to a good start, but it was immediately apparent that this guy was . . . different.

  “This job has a habit of aging people,” Cecil continued. “A lot of sleepless nights and bad food wolfed down at odd hours. It’s exciting at first, but it wears on you after a while. If we didn’t need you so terribly I’d suggest you take a vacation. Unfortunately, we can’t make that happen in the foreseeable future.”

  “Unfortunately,” I agreed. Cecil had pages from my file neatly arranged on his desk, and he made a habit of carefully flipping through them with his hairy but well-manicured fingers. He was a stocky man and built like a brick tool shed. But he was also very well-dressed, and he obviously spent a lot of time in the mirror. His face was perfectly shaven and not a single hair on his head was out of place.

  “I’m sure you’re wondering who the hell I am,” Cecil said. “Actually, I’m sure you’re wondering a great many things. I will try to preemptively answer as many questions as I can. Does that sound agreeable to you?”

  “Sure,” I said. “Go for it.”

  “Right,” Cecil said. “For starters, I was in the Royal Navy for quite some time. I won’t regale you with stories of my military days. To be honest, I haven’t seen enough combat to have any really good stories. However, I have been shot at. I know what it’s like to believe that in the next few seconds, there’s a good chance you could be murdered. But I, like so many lucky men throughout history, survived to tell the tale. There’s an old Winston Churchill quote that is one of my absolute favorites: ’Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.’ I find that to be very true in retrospect, when the danger has passed. But in the moment, when the proverbial shit is
hitting the fan, it’s just about trying to stay alive. It’s about doing anything and everything required to see another day. You get my meaning, don’t you?”

  “I guess,” I said.

  “Of course you do,” Cecil said. “And that’s why I am here. This little operation of ours needed someone who had been in the trenches and lived to tell the tale. The powers-that-be decided to hire a military man to bring some more tactical experience to bear. Can’t have anymore of that escaping business going on now, can we?”

  I shrugged.

  Cecil continued. “Now, you won’t find much more information about me out there on the various data networks, so if you’re going to try you may as well keep your expectations low. When NATO appoints directors for these dark ops they select from a pool of staff who haven’t been on the radar for a while. We’re the ones working in the shadows of the shadows.”

  “And where is Dominique?” I asked.

  “Taking a long overdue vacation,” Cecil said. “After some time off, she’ll be assigned to another very secret department. Some day she’ll be having the very same kind of conversation you and I are having right now, and her new team will have no idea of what she used to do.”

  “She didn’t deserve to get fired,” I said.

  “She wasn’t fired,” Cecil said. “She was reassigned.”

  “She didn’t deserve that either,” I said. “If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be here. This department wouldn’t exist. The progress we’ve made wouldn’t have happened.”

  “All true,” Cecil said. “You and she have certainly shaken things up. I’m sure that will all be taken under consideration when she gets her next assignment. But the truth of the matter is that this project is going in a new direction, and it’s just not Dominique’s specialty. There were too many events that clearly showed she was no longer the best person to be guiding things here.”

  “Events? Plural? As far as I know Kellar’s escape was the only thing anybody could blame on her, and that wasn’t really her fault.”

  “It’s not just that,” Cecil said. “There was another nightcrafter detected on this campus. Remember that? Nobody ever found the culprit, or what they were looking for.”

  I did remember that. It was the unpleasant surprise that had forced Newton and I to relocate to Newfoundland while we researched the phasing spell. That had really stirred the pot. Totally freaked us out.

  “Not important,” I said. “It was most likely just a scout probing for information they didn’t find.”

  “Possible,” Cecil said. “But we don’t know for sure. For all we know, we might even have a spy in our ranks.”

  “I doubt that.”

  “I’m glad to hear it,” Cecil said, “but unfortunately your doubts do not allay mine.”

  I held my tongue for a second. I really didn’t want to get things off to a bad start with this guy. “We’re talking about a nightcrafter who popped up on Newton’s scanners weeks ago and there’s been no sign of them since. So what are you going to do? Order me to hunt them down? What’s your plan?”

  Cecil leaned closer to me and lowered his voice. “I like you, Kal. So I’ll let you in on a little secret.”

  “Which is?” I said.

  “I don’t have a bloody clue about what to do with this job.” He smiled, then he chuckled. I couldn’t help but smile too. Damn him.

  Cecil leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on his desk, revealing spotless leather wingtips. “I’m not going to give you orders. I’m not going to restrict your movements. The truth is that you’re really the only one around here who knows what the hell is going on. So I reckon I’d best let you get on with it.”

  “So . . . you’re saying . . . what exactly?”

  “I’ll run interference for you and keep everything on the administrative side looking tidy,” Cecil said. “I will have to make certain staffing and strategic decisions, of course. But all tactical decisions from now on will be up to you. I’ll keep the powers-that-be from worrying, and you’ll go about doing whatever you deem necessary to get the job done. Even if it requires some dirty work. I’ll keep the trains running on time, and all you have to do is make sure you don’t derail them. Essentially I’ll cover your arse if you cover mine. Although, from what I understand, you are more adept at uncovering arses. Am I right?”

  I was really starting to like this guy up until that point. “Is that a joke?”

  I must have said it with more spite than I intended because Cecil instantly held up his hands, palms out, in a defensive gesture. “Sorry, lad. Years of military service can give a man some rather crass habits. I’m still trying to break them. I meant no offense to you, or Newton.”

  “What exactly do you believe you know about me and Newton?”

  “Only what’s in your file,” Cecil said as he eyed the pages in front of him. “My predecessor was quite thorough in reporting the apparent developing connection between you two. Rightfully so, of course. We need to know about that sort of . . . complication.”

  “There are no complications,” I said. “Not with Newton, at least. We understand each other. That’s it.”

  Cecil nodded. “As you say.”

  “As far as your little arrangement,” I continued, “I’m fine with that. Let me and Newton do our jobs, don’t get in the way, and I’ll play nice and give you all the credit you want.”

  “It’s not credit I want, my boy. I just want as few sleepless nights as I can get. You’re not the only one who looks older than they should.”

  “Fine,” I said. “We are good then. I do have one more question though.”

  “Please feel free to ask,” Cecil said.

  “Why did they really pick you for this job?”

  Cecil squinted at me, like there were tiny words printed on my forehead that might reveal what I was thinking. “I already told you,” he said. “My military experience is—”

  “Not unique,” I said. “NATO has tons of military personnel. What makes you special?”

  Cecil stayed quiet for a few seconds, and then said, “I wouldn’t say I’m special. But I do share something with the previous person who had this job.”

  “Which is?” I asked.

  “Someone I care about was recently killed by the Rift-kind.”

  “I see.”

  “It was my niece Ava,” Cecil said. “Like Dominique, I was one of the fortunate few to have clearance to the reports we had on nightcrafters — the reports that were created back before we knew what you really were. We knew a little about the creatures who lived in the dark too, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I used that information to protect my loved ones. I arranged to have my sister’s family moved from London to Vancouver. We didn’t have a map of the Rift back then, obviously, but we did know that the west coast of Canada was free of odd activity. The move worked fairly well, but of course I never told them exactly why I encouraged it. I just pulled a lot of strings to make an offer my sister and her husband couldn’t refuse. It all worked for many years. But then, my sister allowed Ava to go back to London for a trip with her friends. She never told me about it. I didn’t know she was there until I got the call that Ava was dead.”

  That last part made my stomach do a flip. “What happened?”

  “The official medical report said it looked like some wild animal had torn her to shreds,” Cecil said. “They identified what appeared to be claw and fang wounds. Of course, they had a hell of a time trying to explain how that could have happened right in the middle of London. But I knew. I knew.”

  “I’m sorry about your niece,” I said.

  “I know you are,” Cecil said, smiling weakly. “You understand better than most, and I am grateful you’re here to help us put a stop to this insanity.”

  “Yeah.” It was all I could say. The conversation had taken a turn I hadn’t expected. Cecil and his family had suffered the exact kind of pain I came here to stop. Maybe he wouldn’t be so bad to have around after all.

>   “I guess I should be going,” I said to fill the uncomfortable silence. “Anything else?”

  “There is one more thing actually,” Cecil said. “It’s the matter of the young lady. Madison.”

  “What about her?”

  “I’d like you to leave her to me.”

  I didn’t have a problem with that, but I wasn’t going to let Cecil get everything he wanted without any questions. “Why?”

  “She’s our only remaining captive,” Cecil said. “The powers-that-be are nervous, so we’ll have to be very careful with her.”

  “What are you planning to do?”

  “Nothing unseemly, I promise you. She will be treated very well. We just need to have a more strategic approach with her.”

  “And what would happen if I disagreed?”

  “I would try to convince you, of course. But, ultimately, if you really wanted to make a palaver out of it, I’d just make her your problem to solve.”

  “You don’t get off that easily,” I said. “You can figure out what to do with her, but I want to know what you decide. Before you do it.”

  “Agreed,” Cecil said. “I believe this is the start of a wonderful partnership.” He stood, and extended his hand. I shook it, and felt him nearly squeeze all the blood out of my fingers. Then he patted me on the back and ushered me out of his office.

  On the elevator ride back down to the ground floor, I replayed that meeting in my head. I couldn’t help but feel that I’d gotten the raw end of the deal. I’d just been given the power to make almost all the decisions, and that scared the hell out of me.

  CHAPTER 5

  After meeting with Cecil, I went to Newton’s special off site lab. It was hidden away in a squat brick building in an unremarkable part of the city. The main entrance was in the back — a metal sliding door with a biometric security panel.

  Once I was done entering the security code, and doing the fingerprint scan, and the retinal scan, the massive iron doors slid open for me. A mild screech of metal on metal and a few flakes of falling rust welcomed me into the antechamber of Newton’s secret lair. The inner doors only opened once the outer doors closed, so I had to wait for those rusty doors to screech closed again before I was allowed access into the lab itself.