by Daniel Ruth
“You seemed busy, but I couldn't wait all night for you to finish,” she stated solemnly. That actually made me wonder how long she been there watching me fight for my life.
“Yeah, well thanks, that could have gone on for a while,” I said, nodding to the smoking body. Wait a minute. Vampires don't turn into smoke when they die. I took a closer look at the corpse and found that it was twitching and slowly changing into a mist like form. I know this trick because I used to be able to do it too, before my unfortunate encounter.
I kicked the still-glowing dagger away from the assassin's hand and brought my sword down to separate the head from the trisected body. The smoking stopped, but I still frowned. He wasn't dead yet. Vampires aren't that high on the supernatural scale, but they were incredibly hard to kill. I think burying the body away from the head may do it or bathing the corpse in holy water. Damn, I would have to stop by a church and buy a few barrels. Is that like asking your neighbor for a cup of sugar?
Mei Ling brought my attention back to her as she gestured and the huge swords in my hands. “Overcompensating a little?”
I blushed a bit. Those swords had seemed like an awesome idea when I was just hatched, but had since become an embarrassment. It is why I don't really use swords, even though by all accounts I am pretty good with them. I opened my hand and let the energies flow away. The swords faded into nothingness.
Chapter 7
Back in the house I told Mei Ling to make herself at home while I cleaned up. I may regenerate, but my clothes were about to give up the ghost. They looked like I had gone four rounds with angry shifters and another six with an ancient vampire Kung Fu master. I went to my room, casually tore the clothes off, and tossed them in a garbage bin on the way. Going into the connecting bathroom, I thoroughly enjoyed a piping hot shower. I had Jeremy modify the reservoir and now the bright red button on the wall with “DANGER” labeled on it triggered four faucets that shot out geysers of boiling water and steam. I don’t think it met any building code, but I am absurdly resistant to heat and cold and I love it!
I dried off, made sure the sinks were polished as I left, and went back to dress. Looking into my mirror as I finished pulling on fresh clothes, I noted my finger looked like it was a few millimeters longer and the wound on my face was just a faint red line.
I stepped out of the room and headed into my living room to greet my guest. As I approached I heard two familiar voices in conversation. It appeared that Jeremy was visiting. Hopefully, no one had shot him again. Humans should be more careful.
“...and then he dropped this huge pile of books down in front of the clerk and asked if this was adequate trade for the Necronomicon,” Jeremy finished with a chuckle.
Damn, that was an embarrassing moment. That was soon after I had arrived and since I was short on funds and limited in my knowledge of the local culture, I had mistaken a fictional book for a real occult artifact.
“I was just kidding with the girl, she looked bored,” I defended myself. I was lying of course, but I had my pride and if that was what it took to defend it so be it. “I see you have already met Miss Mei Ling...”
“Call me Mei,” she interjected.
Oh right, humans here had two names. It hadn't occurred to me to call Mei anything but her full name. Come to think of it, if she didn't offer to use her first name, until now did that mean she hadn't liked me before? Hmm, maybe I need to work on my social interaction.
“Jeremy is the one that heard of your plight and sent me your way,” I offered. “He's the best private eye in the city. He's also been helping me in my research.”
“Not that I would dream of contradicting you, but I am also one of the only ones in the city,” Jeremy said. At Mei's questioning look, he continued. “Most of the so called PI's in the city just offer droid surveillance and account hacking. They wouldn't know detective work if it bit them in the ass.”
“Well, it is impressive that you found me,” the slim Asian said. “I have been keeping a low profile, hoping to get a jump on Jin.”
I looked blankly at her. “Who's Jin?” Was there another player involved?
She looked at me in surprise. “The evil wizard. The guy you agreed to help me get... you know, the fellow we found out is going to summon demons from Hell and take over the world.”
“Oh, yeah.” I chuckled uneasily. I hadn't really thought about the wizard's name. I guess she may have mentioned it while I was concentrating on something else. I sometimes miss things like that. Jeremy was giving me an obnoxious grin; he always gets a kick out of seeing me at a loss for words.
“Mei mentioned that you were attacked just outside the building. You okay?” he asked, eyeing my finger which had a bloody rag wrapped around it.
“Yeah, I'll be okay by morning,” I muttered. “I got jumped and managed to get one good attack in before the guy went Bruce Lee on me. I could barely touch him after that.”
“How did you hit him the first time?” Mei asked with professional curiosity.
I was silent for a moment, looking at my covered shortened finger. “Um, pressure point. I surprised him and you know...” I mimed hitting a person with my wounded finger.
“Derek is pretty good at medicine,” Jeremy volunteered.
“I have a new respect for vampires,” I mentioned. “I always thought they were like trash supernaturals pests, but that one really knew his stuff. He was way more impressive than the first one that visited me.”
“You had another vampire visitor?” Jeremy cautiously asked. Mei listened silently.
“Yeah. I am pretty sure they aren't related though,” I offered. “He was here to hire me for some consulting. Apparently some of... Jin's... apprentices are summoning minor nuisances and the vampires want it stopped.”
“That's very... noble of them,” Mei said reservedly.
“Right... noble. Vampires are maniacally territorial,” I snorted in amusement. “I still don't know how shifters and vampires share the same city without killing each other off.”
“It was tough when they first went public,” Mei said thoughtfully. “But once you’re citizens and in the public eye, you can't be seen to get into territory fights with other citizens without looking like you're into wholesale gang warfare. The land was divided up and that’s how it's going stay.”
“Wait a minute, how come the humans don't know about this?” Jeremy asked puzzled.
“Humans don't really count as far as territory goes,” Mei said uneasily. I nodded in agreement. Most supernaturals considered humans as part of the landscape. Technology, or in the case of my home, magic, had evened the playing field, but mortals just don't set off the same instincts. It's hardwired into most supernaturals not to take humans seriously. For my kind, it's even more extreme; I can't even make myself consider the minor supernaturals a threat to my territory. Only another of my kind or a creature of similar magnitude will raise my hackles and trigger a pissing contest. It's hardwired arrogance.
“Hrmph,” Jeremy grunted unhappily. It's very much in their favor, but humans hate being ignored.
“Anyway, the mages in training are peeing on the vampire's territory, causing distractions and mapping out the nodes for Jin.” I continued. Mei snorted. I guess she appreciated shifter humor. “The master sent a young vampire to yours truly and hired me to figure out what's going on.”
“Bah, they are going to get in our way,” Mei scowled.
“Nonsense,” I smiled. “They just volunteered to be co-opted into the 'Lets track down Jin' club.” Noticing the others puzzled looks I elaborated. “Vampires are all natural psychics... well, all but the fresh ones.”
“Ah, let them scour the city for the nodes, and either they monitor these points or we have the shifters do it.” Jeremy nodded in approval. “Slick.”
“Thanks,” I returned. “It sort of fell into place. Assuming Mei can work the shifter angle.” I looked over at her. She seemed to be in deep thought.
“It could work. The shifters a
re every bit as territorial as the vampires. To even enter, the city I had to call ahead and arrange introductions with the pack heads.” Mei slowly stated, gears visibly turning in her head. “There are a lot fewer psychic sensitives among shifters than vampires but it's not that uncommon to be able to smell magic energy and ley line energy.”
“How many packs did you have to meet with?” Jeremy asked.
“Too many,” she grimaced. “I still have several meetings in the next few days so I have to be careful where I go unless I want to get into fights. Fortunately, I made contact with the city's arbitrator... he'll make organizing the packs easier.”
“Great! When did that happen?” I asked.
She looked at me flatly. “Tonight. Conrad's the arbitrator for the city.”
“Fantastic! I guess he has a good reason for looking like he has a stick up his butt. I thought he was just stressing over the future of the supernatural division.” Jeremy snickered. I guess he knew who Conrad was. Not surprising; I swear he knew everyone. Mei looked annoyed at my lack of respect. “One thing though... what's an arbitrator?”
Mei jerked in place. “The arbitrator is the most powerful shifter in the city, usually acting as the peacekeeper and peacemaker between the various packs of the city.”
“Politically powerful or....” Jeremy asked, in the pause after her description.
“Physically powerful. When things break down he may have to put a pack leader in his place. He's a were-bear. A powerful one too,” Mei reluctantly added.
Jeremy and I looked at each other. I am pretty sure neither one of us knew that were-bears even existed. I looked at Mei again, trying to figure out what kind she was. I was betting on panther or jaguar but if there were bears then who knew what others there were.
“Oh. Hey, how did that raid thing go,” I asked cheerfully. So far I knew Conrad survived, but a were-bear could probably live through a lot. Especially in that veritable mobile tank he wore. It seemed even more overkill now I knew what he was.
“It was a disaster, but only a few were injured,” she offered grudgingly. “Conrad gathered some shifters and only a few humans went with us. They stayed in the rear and provided cover while we took out the zombies. The zombies were the easy part.” She grimaced at unpleasant memories. “We followed the one zombie we allowed to reanimate through the sewers. Apparently, the mage cleared out an abandoned subway station. It wasn’t on the map. He probably turned the homeless that were there previously. We were almost overrun by forty or so dead. After we put them down, we moved up and encountered the traps.”
“Ah, I thought there may be. Did Conrad...” I prompted.
“Yes, your advice was good,” she said slowly. “A few shifters were caught in an explosion but in general, we were able to sniff out the magic and avoid most of it. At least until we got to the center.” She stopped.
“And then...” I once more coaxed. Geez, it was like pulling teeth.
“And then we found the mage. He set up an entire underground complex with circles. They were under a big glowing barrier that stopped everything.”
“And what happened then?” I asked after she was silent for a bit.
“There is no 'after that'. What part of impenetrable don't you get? All they could do was place a guard down there. If they figure out how to get through or it goes down on its own then we'll get to the 'after that' part.”
I thought about that. What a letdown. That meant no books from that source. That was some pretty high powered magic though. What was a guy like that doing raising zombies to front for a gang?
“Unless the mage is powering that with an artifact, it’s going to come down eventually,” I said into the silence. I wouldn't want to be one of those officers on duty when it did.
“So if the vampires didn't send the assassin, who did?” Mei asked, in a rather obvious attempt to change the subject. I shrugged. Jeremy coughed.
“It could be a complete coincidence but...” Jeremy paused. He thinks he has a flare for dramatics. “They are saying there's a new gang lord setting up shop. His name is still not public domain, but his operations modus operandi is very similar to Kingston's.”
Well, what do you know? That would explain a few things. I had used Kingston's own knowledge to hide my traces and his memory of the events should have been almost nothing. If he had hired an outside agency to track down the money trail he may have been able to eek some information out of the net. It must have taken him most of the year he'd been missing, and I really doubt he'd found more than a couple accounts. I would have to check on them when it was safer. In the meantime, he had found enough about me to hire people to take me out. The missiles and the assassin now started to make sense. Wow, maybe that karma thing has something to it.
“Okay, I'll bite,” Mei spoke into the silence. “Who's Kingston?”
“He is... or was high up mob boss that disappeared almost a year ago,” I said thoughtfully.
“And he thinks you did him wrong,” Mei said this as a statement.
I flashed a smile. “How about that?”
“And did you?” Mei asked.
I shrugged. Jeremy grimaced. He takes these things too seriously.
“Do you need any help with this?” the little Asian woman asked. I looked at her in surprise. I wouldn't expect an offer like that from someone I just met earlier today. I guess she took our alliance seriously.
“Um, no,” I muttered, still thinking on the angles. “Now that I know who's behind this, I can deal with this one way or another.” I don't remember any details from my time in his mind, but I do remember he was a very evil man. I would try to reason with him but if that failed, well mortals are pretty fragile.
Jeremy looked ambivalent about my statement. He really is a hopeless optimist. He would be upset if I took drastic action, so I would try to keep my methods death free. You don't keep friends around by doing things they consider morally wrong. Especially someone as sharp as Jeremy.
“Don't worry. I will do what I have to keep the bloodshed to a minimum,” I assured the detective. Mei gave me a skeptical look, probably remembering the quartered vampire we had out back in storage, or maybe it was the accident with the exploding werewolves. I just gave her an exasperated look. I mean really, you can't expect me to play nice with people trying, and almost succeeding, in killing me.
“So anyone up for a movie before we go to bed?” I suggested. It was almost time for our weekly movie night anyway and Jeremy had just fixed the holo player. Again.
Chapter 8
We watched Damnation Alley which reminded me of home without all the people and more deserts. Afterward, I talked to Jeremy about some technical support with an idea I had. He handles all my technical issues. I am not sure I could have hooked up my vid without his help, let alone fix it every few days. Even if I could, it wouldn’t be worth it before it blew up again. I stayed up and read a bit after the others had gone to sleep. I don't need much and a little bit of meditation would recharge my mental batteries far more efficiently than mere sleep.
My mind wandered a bit while I read, slowing my progress a bit. It roamed over the situation I was in, both in this world and more specifically where I stood in relation to Kingston. I really had to believe we make our own Karma. The actions we take lead to the future as inevitably as an avalanche. My minor talents at precognitive always seem useless except at short term events. If they were more developed, I certainly wouldn't be where I was. My friends say... or rather used to say, I tend to over-plan, building castles in the air that overcomplicate things. I can't help it really; I have too much time on my hands, I suppose.
The night passed much like this. Thoughts flitting through my head until I gave up even the pretense of study. It was almost morning when I started my meditation and my thoughts finally quieted in the face of my discipline. It was well into the morning when a knock at the door interrupted my soothing trance.
“Morning, Conrad,” I welcomed with a smile. Now that Mei was i
ncluding him in our plans I felt far more charitable towards the large policeman. He was a little stiff, but I could work with that.
“Morning, Professor,” the shifter said politely. I winced and my smile became a little more plastic. I guess I would have to get used to the unwelcome moniker.
“Come in.” I waived the officer in. “I hear that you had mixed results in the raid.”
He grunted as he walked by. “Yes, your advice was fine, but he's holed up.”
“Yeah, powerful circles like that are tough to bypass until they run out of juice.”
The policeman turned toward me slowly, a suspicious look entering his eyes. “You seem well informed. You mind telling me how you knew all this?”
“That would be me,” a slight cough preceded this announcement. Conrad kept his poise as he turned to face Mei. The slight Asian woman was dressed in a very flattering silk night gown. She had serious skills; I hadn't heard a thing and apparently neither had Conrad, and his senses were no doubt significantly sharper than my own.
“Miss Ling,” the officer nodded. Some of the tension eased from his posture. “I hadn't realized you and the Professor knew each other.” I think Mei noticed my flinch.
“Yes, I will be staying at Derek's until my business here is done. It's far more convenient than a hotel and I am unsure how long I will be in town.”
Conrad paused a moment, apparently mentally connecting my name with me. “I am not sure I thanked you properly last night. Your help was invaluable. The Professor supplied a good description of what we could expect, but your practical experience was a deciding factor that doubtless saved several officers' lives.” I am not sure, but I think he may have unconsciously posed during that statement.
“You’re welcome,” she gracefully nodded. “I firmly believe that those of us with the skills and abilities to make a difference should put forth every effort to help those around them.” She was staring me straight in the eyes when she said this so I am almost positive she was directing this at me. What did she want? For me to put a pair of tights and roam the city? The fairies of the city would have to get out and push. She continued, “In fact the reason I am in the city may impact you more than just a little.”