“Whose region is above mine?” I asked Summer.
“Margaret McTavish’s. I don’t know why she’s not here.”
“Where do Kathleen and Ron fit?”
“Kathleen is Folsom. Ron is North Highlands and Antelope.”
Which placed Ron’s region south of Jacob’s and, based on the dotted lines, it had two enforcers.
“Rafi?” I asked.
Hearing his name, the rugged Iranian enforcer flashed me a smile. I smiled back and looked away.
“Orangevale.” Which meant Rafi’s region bordered mine to the south, though not as much as Summer’s region.
The black sprawl from ground zero swelled to fill the map again. I slid lower in my chair. Here was the big picture, the view Mr. Pitt saw daily from his office while I hunted imps and vervet. Unfortunately, it was impossible to miss that my tiny region had suffered a disproportionate concentration of evil compared to all other regions. It was as if there were a magnet for evil located at the heart of my region.
I swallowed a gulp of lukewarm tea. Was I the problem?
Focused on ground zero, I didn’t notice the rest of my region until the fifth time through. Dark patches had cropped up and disappeared deeper in my region over the last two days. Patches Mr. Pitt hadn’t mentioned to me. Niko’s need to recharge today took on new significance. He’d been cleaning up evil on my behalf. No wonder the wardens didn’t think I could handle my region!
“What about the prajurit?” Kathleen asked. “Has anyone seen them?”
“Not for weeks,” Ron said.
“Longer,” Mr. Pitt said.
Liam shook his head. “I spoke with a queen almost two months ago. What about you, Niko?”
“I’ve been checking when I can. There’s a hive in Woodland and another south of Sacramento.”
“Have they heard where the hives around here have gone?” Ashley asked.
“Not even so much as a rumor.”
“Has everyone checked old hives?” Isabel asked.
“I knew of two,” Rafi said, causing all heads at the table to turn toward him. “Both hives were abandoned. It’s like the prajurit flew out and simply never returned.”
“I found the same,” Jacob said.
“This makes no sense,” Isabel said.
I couldn’t agree more. What exactly were prajurit? They had hives and could fly. Were they bees of some sort?
“It does explain the salamanders, with the prajurit absent,” Dominic said.
There were nods all around the table, everyone’s expression grim. I glanced at Summer.
“Salamanders?” I asked.
Her eyebrows shot up. “You don’t know? All the fires lately have been set by salamanders.”
The explanation covered about as much as a fingerprint on a windshield. My knowledge of salamanders could be summed up in a single memory of a black-and-white picture in biology class of a man standing with a full-grown three-inch salamander in his palm and a four-foot-long salamander of a different species at his feet. Only myth connected salamanders to fire. Of course, a week ago I would have said demons were mythological creatures.
I pictured giant human-size salamanders walking upright around Roseville, using lighters to set dry grasses ablaze. I added a backward-facing baseball cap and tutu to my imaginary salamander, completing the absurd image.
“Normally the prajurit kill salamanders before they’re fully developed,” Summer added, again giving me enough information to evoke a dozen more questions.
“I’ve added in the recent fires,” Liam said. “Those in orange are questionably connected to salamanders.”
The map reset showing a larger radius, and in this time-lapse, patches of red and orange scattered, spread, and disappeared. The date stamp started in late August and continued through today. There were more fires than I remembered, but it’d been an exceptionally active fire season. California’s drought had transformed the countryside into one giant tinderbox, and even the smallest fires had often swelled out of hand. The majority of red notations marched up the I-80 corridor to the north, from Newcastle to Weimar, where grass fires started near the freeway had engulfed patches of open land and threatened homes. Up until this moment, I had believed the news reports blaming the fires on lit cigarettes flicked from cars.
Larger fires spread across the map in the foothills, bringing back memories of hot September days when the skies of Roseville had been a toxic haze. The red and orange patches grew and shrank and shifted like a current across the map. New splotches appeared in October, smaller and seemingly at random. November was the same, though for the first time the fires moved from the countryside into areas with denser population. A few fires popped up in Folsom, a few in Fair Oaks. These flashed on and off the map, small and quickly extinguished. A couple appeared in West Roseville, then hopscotched up Highway 65 to Lincoln, ending with the fires my mom had mentioned, all in red. Definitely started by salamanders, according to Liam. I almost missed the small orange dot on Douglas Boulevard from today’s Christmas tree fire.
“How can you tell when it’s a salamander fire?” I asked Summer, hoping I sounded halfway intelligent.
“You either see the salamander,” she whispered, “or, in the bigger fires, you find a nest.”
“There’s no other sign?”
“Maybe if you determine the fire’s origin, but a fire intentionally started always has lots of atrum, salamander or no.”
Liam combined the two time-lapses, showing the last month. Even with the fires happening mostly in other regions, my region looked like the epicenter.
“When all is laid out on a single map, it’s clear the bulk of evil is centered here.” Liam clicked a few buttons on his keyboard, and all instances of evil and fires over the last month appeared simultaneously on one static map. A bright yellow line circled my region. Within its confines, solid black swallowed the map.
No one looked at me, but I felt the weight of their regard nonetheless. Color climbed Mr. Pitt’s neck. “Up until today, my region’s been fire-free,” he said.
“What an odd coincidence,” Isabel said, dismissing him. “We need to know what’s behind this if we’re going to fight it. Any theories?”
“When I was younger, I worked a region with mind-jacks,” Ron said. “When we broke them, they swarmed, and it looked a lot like this.”
Mind-jacks? I didn’t ask. The room was too quiet.
Kathleen gave herself a shake. “No. Even swarming, they would have left a pattern, or at least a trail,” she said. “This appears to originate and be contained to our regions.”
“Has anyone considered it could be as simple as a vacuum?” Sheila asked. “Where there is weakness, evil moves in. Obviously, there’s a vacuum of strength, and the rest of this could be the ripples.”
“Yet, I’ve held my region for years,” Mr. Pitt said, meeting Sheila’s gaze calmly. “Up until recently, there hasn’t been a problem.”
“You’ve had trained enforcers before now,” Liam said.
I struggled not to fidget. They couldn’t seriously be blaming all the evil obscuring the map on me, could they?
“Jacob had little more experience than Madison when he hired out with me,” Mr. Pitt said.
I started. Jacob had been Mr. Pitt’s enforcer at one time? When had he switched to Isabel’s region, and why?
“A region needs stability, and you’ve had a problem retaining enforcers over the years,” Isabel said.
He had? What did those enforcers know that I didn’t? Did it have something to do with Mr. Pitt’s mysterious and secretive past?
“The demon obviously saw weakness when your region changed enforcer hands yet again. Who knows how long it’d been waiting to move in,” Liam said.
“It’s just as likely the demon sensed the general weakness in all your regions,” Niko said.
“It didn’t pick our regions,” Liam said.
I waited for my boss to defend himself or me. His face got redder, but
he said nothing. No one expressly blamed me, though no one held back an opinion of my ignorance and inexperience. I bit my tongue to keep quiet. My earlier conversation with Sheila had proved how silly I sounded when I tried to defend myself. Summer, Rafi, and Jacob didn’t meet my gaze. Claire smiled. It was the kind of smile a man might have thought was sweet but set the hairs on the back of my neck standing. Frowning, I pulled my spine straighter and focused on Liam.
“Now’s not the time to have an untrained enforcer in the field,” Liam said. “Madison’s lack of experience is a liability, which you know, Brad, or you wouldn’t have agreed to put her on cito duty. But this isn’t just about Madison. We need strong wardens as much as strong enforcers until we figure out this little mystery.” Liam let the statement hang alongside the evil-smeared map, with its bright yellow bull’s-eye on my region. “Jacob, Claire, Summer, and Rafi will rotate through Brad’s region. Unless anyone has any objections, I’ll coordinate, since my enforcers will be picking up the bulk of the excess work. Isabel, I’ll limit Jacob’s involvement as much as possible. Claire, I know we’re working around your school schedule. I’ll coordinate with Kathleen to ensure we’re not overextending you. Brad, you can report problems to me, and I’ll pass it along accordingly. Ron, we’ll keep your enforcers in reserve.”
Isabel and Kathleen nodded, avoiding eye contact with Mr. Pitt. A moment later, Ron nodded. The muscles in Mr. Pitt’s temples bunched, but his pink face remained placid. Liam had rendered him powerless, an employee of another warden rather than the ruler of his own region.
I finally saw what Mr. Pitt must have known since this morning: The meeting was a ruse. Liam getting the other wardens to agree to him taking control of all enforcer activity in Mr. Pitt’s region had been his true purpose all along. Niko had said this was the best compromise Mr. Pitt could make, but it seemed like a defeat to me. If me being trained by an outside enforcer would have put our region in the hands of a different warden, making Mr. Pitt vulnerable, this maneuver seemed akin to severing Mr. Pitt’s femoral artery. He might still be in charge of me, but what was the point if neither of us had a region to defend?
“Madison,” Liam said, turning to me with an indulgent smile, “whatever time you have after the mall, you’re more than welcome to pursue evil in your region. Just be sure to check in with me so we’re not doubling up on personnel.”
How could Mr. Pitt sit there and agree? And how could I not? I was doing my best to be a good enforcer, which according to Niko meant doing as Mr. Pitt instructed—if Mr. Pitt could be trusted.
I sat quiet, gagged with indecision and doubt.
5
Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
“It’s going to be a rough couple of weeks,” Liam said, meeting the eyes of the wardens and enforcers, “but I’m sure we’ll be back within normal operating parameters by the new year.”
By the new year? I slumped in my seat. I’d be trapped working a mall in Jacob’s region for over a month?
Niko assigned himself the task of meeting with the local prajurit who could be found. Liam devised a reporting system to keep his map up to date and accessible by all wardens. How better for everyone to watch Liam prove himself a more effective warden of my region than Mr. Pitt? Yet hoping for him to fail was hoping for evil to flourish. What if Liam was the better warden? Didn’t the people of Roseville deserve to have the best leader at the helm?
The meeting broke up with the wardens touting the importance of carrying “live water.” I kept quiet and added the term to my list of questions for the handbook. Liam used my inexperience as an excuse to subvert Mr. Pitt’s authority. I didn’t want to add to Liam’s cause by voicing stupid questions now, even to Summer.
Why couldn’t the escalating evil involve imps or vervet, or even demons? Those I knew about and could be helpful fighting.
Summer invited me to walk out with her, and Rafi lingered while she collected her purse. “I found this great new Thai restaurant we should all try,” she said, including me as easily as her longtime coworker. “It’s actually close to your region, Madison, on Sunrise. We should have lunch once things settle a bit.”
“I’d like that.” It would be nice to have an enforcer friend or two. Bridget was wonderful, and I could share everything with her, but it would be great to commiserate and talk shop with a fellow enforcer. Plus, I might pick up some tips from Summer. “Tell me truthfully, is this mall thing going to be bad?”
“Bad?” Rafi glanced at Summer. “Boring, maybe, but not bad.”
“Yeah, monotonous but not stressful,” Summer agreed.
“Don’t worry, Madison. They’ll be assigning you demons again soon, I’m sure,” Rafi teased.
My purse snagged on a chair and the handbook tipped out and flopped across my toes. By the time I untangled the strap, chastising myself for my usual grace, Rafi had picked the book up for me.
“Hey, Madison,” Jacob called, coming up behind us. “Brad said you’ll be at the mall early on Friday. Let’s swap digits so we can meet up and I can show you the cito ropes. Not much to it, really. Just point, shoot, and watch ’em disappear. Whoa, is that a handbook?” Jacob grabbed the book from Rafi and ran his thumbs along the pages, ruffling the tattered ends. “You guys ever seen one of these before?” he asked Rafi and Summer.
“Nope,” Summer said, taking the book so she could inspect it.
“Once,” Rafi said.
“Is it true they’re all crazy?”
“The one I met was. Like a crow in a coin shop. It couldn’t follow a thought to the end of a sentence.”
“I’ve always heard they were flighty.” Summer handed me the book. “Though I’m sure there’s bits of wisdom in there. Let us know if it says anything useful.”
“Flighty? We’re talking about a book, right?” I asked.
“Well, a handbook,” Summer said. The silence lasted a beat too long. “Haven’t you opened it yet?”
I frowned. “I just got it a few hours ago.”
“Yeah, there’s no rush,” Jacob said. “Gimme your phone. I’ll enter my number.”
I handed over Medusa, still feeling like I was missing the joke and pretty sure it meant I was the butt of it.
“Take a look,” Summer said.
I opened the book. The first page was blank. So was the next. I flipped through. Every single page was blank. “Wha—”
“In Primordium,” Rafi said.
I blinked. The leather binding glowed white. As did the pages. Whoever had used it before me must have spent a lot of time with it for that much lux lucis to still be coating the interior. I fanned the pages again. They were still blank. Frowning, I flipped to the front.
As I watched, bold cursive scrawled the words, Hi, Madison Amelia Fox. The text was standard black on white, appearing from nothing across the page.
Atrum printed on lux lucis? I ran my fingers over the text, pushing a little lux lucis into the page. The words didn’t change, and the page didn’t get noticeably brighter. The lux lucis simply absorbed.
No, the text wasn’t atrum. Despite being black in Primordium, the words couldn’t be formed of evil energy. If they had been, the book’s surplus of lux lucis would have erased it immediately. More important, books didn’t write their own text.
This was impossible.
Jacob burst out laughing, covering his mouth with the back of his open fist. He snapped a picture with his phone. “Your face! Priceless.”
Summer and Rafi grinned.
“Are you guys playing a trick on me?”
Summer shook her head. “Does it recognize you?”
I turned the book for her to see.
“Oh, good. At least you got one with some situational awareness. I’ve heard that’s rare.”
Jacob simmered down to a chuckle and finished entering his number into Medusa. He held out my phone, and I closed the handbook to accept it. “I hope that thing’s helpful. Brad’s a good starter warden, but old school. Anyway, see you way
too early on Friday. Thanks again for taking the citos off my hands.” He left with a jaunty wave.
I frowned at his back. Starter warden?
“I don’t know how he has so much energy,” Summer said. “After the last week, I’m beat, and it’s not just from the demon smut that spilled over from your region, Madison. Things really are a lot worse than normal.”
I blinked. Summer didn’t sound upset, but I heard an accusation buried in her comment. Was I being too sensitive?
“The wunderkind didn’t have a slew of wraiths flare up at a high school,” Rafi said.
“Wunderkind?” I echoed.
Summer smiled. “Jacob’s always been quick, and he got strong fast. I think Isabel is grooming him to become an optivus aegis.”
“I’m sure he’s regretting his reputation,” Rafi said. “The wardens work him twice as hard as the rest of us. He’s the first enforcer everyone calls when they need backup—except Brad.”
“What’s Mr. Pitt got against him?”
“Jacob left your region pretty fast for Isabel’s. I think there was . . . tension between Brad and Jacob. They weren’t a good fit.” Summer poked my shoulder. “What’s with ‘Mr. Pitt’? He doesn’t make you call him that, does he?”
I shook my head. “I never thought about it. He’s just Mr. Pitt.”
That wasn’t the full truth. I hadn’t needed Niko or anyone else at this meeting to point out my inadequacies as an enforcer. I’d known from the start I had the ability but not the experience to do my job, and despite giving Mr. Pitt a dozen reasons to fire me before I proved myself with the demon, he’d kept me on. I’d hoped a little formality would smooth over my blunders. Plus, now Brad sounded weird when I said it.
“I’m sure that’ll pass,” Summer said. “You know, it’s probably a good thing you’re getting some mall time this year. It’s going to be dull after your first week, but they can’t all be demons, right? Anyway, the only way to get promoted to a region with more responsibility is through experience, and every species encountered helps, even citos.”
Her assumption that I would want to ditch my current region notwithstanding, it was a nice sentiment, even if it was mostly a lie to spare my feelings. Any experience I gained fighting the evil plaguing my region would be more valuable than facing down a single species at the mall. Since I didn’t have a choice in the matter, and I didn’t want to whine, I exchanged numbers with Summer and Rafi, then walked alone to Niko’s car. The BMW’s lights flashed as I neared. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Niko near the entrance, talking with Isabel and Liam.
A Fistful of Fire: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Madison Fox, Illuminant Enforcer Book 2) Page 6