A Brush With Death

by Stokes, S. C.

  “Kasey, wait,” her mother called after her.

  Kasey threw open the door. The bitter winter wind whipped past her into the house, only now it felt good. Her cheeks were hot with tears and the bite of the icy wind soothed them as she ran across the porch and onto the sidewalk leading to the white picket gate.

  She needed to get out of here, and the sooner the better. The Druidic successor to Carys Bloodborne? That was the last thing she needed in her life.

  As her hand touched the gate, her mother called from the door. “Kasey, don't do this. I love you.”

  Kasey stopped and turned, to find her mother standing in the front door, tears streaming down her face.

  All the lies broke Kasey's heart.

  As she opened her mouth to reply, a vehicle's engine roared to life.

  On the snow-choked street, a black town car rolled past the house, the short stubby barrel of a gun protruding from the driver's window.

  Chapter Nine

  Kasey hurled herself to the ground, hoping the fence and raised herb gardens would obscure the shooter’s view.

  The gunman opened up with the automatic weapon. From the sound it had to be a Mac 10, inaccurate but with the high rate of fire it was ideal for this kind of close-up work.

  “Tarian,” a voice bellowed.

  Kasey knew her mother's angry tone as a shield shimmered to life between her and the vehicle. Bullets turned into sparks of multicolored hues as they impacted the shield and disintegrated. The submachine gun clicked empty as Jane Stonemoore stepped off her front porch into the yard. Her dark hair, tinged with silver, whipped about her in the breeze as she strode purposefully toward the street.

  Kasey drew on her power as she rose to her feet, but the driver stepped on the gas. There was a furious screech of squealing tires and snow being flung off them as the town car tried to pull away.

  “Rhew,” Jane called.

  A pillar of ice rose from the road before the vehicle, half the width of the street and as thick as a car.

  The town car slammed into the pillar, but the ice didn't yield. The hood folded up like an accordion. Smoke hissed angrily from the ruined car as it idled against the obstruction.

  As her mother reached the fence, she raised a hand, her palm toward the sky, and chanted, “Pêl Tân.”

  An orb of fire coalesced above her outstretched hand, blazing red and orange and giving off so much heat that Kasey could feel it where she stood.

  “Mom, no,” Kasey shouted but it was too late.

  Her mother hurled the searing inferno at the stalled town car. The fireball struck it and blossomed over its surface. A muted scream came from within the car. The car exploded, sending glass and shrapnel everywhere. Pieces of steel and glass struck her mother’s shield but couldn't penetrate it.

  “Mom, you just killed him.”

  Her mother never took her eyes off the car. “He tried to kill you. He would have tried again.”

  “We can't learn anything off him if he's dead.”

  Her mother shrugged before she vaulted the fence. “He was a bounty hunter, trying to collect the reward on your head. What more did you want to know?”

  Kasey hopped the fence and followed after her.

  “I told you, Kasey. There is nothing your father and I won't do to keep you safe. These people will keep coming until you either deal with the Feudal Court or are killed. I plan to provide them with a disincentive.”

  Her mother pulled out her phone from her pocket. Holding it up, she filmed the smoldering wreckage of the town car and began to speak. “Doubtless many of you have heard of the price on my daughter's head. If you come for her, this is how it ends. There will be no day in court, no clever lawyers to hide behind, no gaming the justice system. Only a swift and certain death. No empty promise of reward is worth the pain I will inflict on you as you draw your final breath. This is my only warning—leave. There are easier paydays elsewhere. You'll never live to collect this one.”

  She ended the video.

  “Mom, you can't do this. You'll make yourself a target.”

  Her mother looked at Kasey and gave a faint smile. “I know, dear. That is my intention. By this evening, that video will be disseminated far and wide. It won't stop them all, but it will dissuade a few. There is nothing your father and I won't do for you.”

  “How could you lie to me all these years?” Kasey asked, the pain from her mother's revelation still fresh.

  “Not lie, dear. We gave you as much as you could bear, and when you started to leave our world behind, we let you. Doesn't that show you how much we care for you? Decades of sacrifice for the singular purpose of bringing you and your gifts into this world, and yet when you chose not to be a part of it, we supported you, loved you, and gave you everything we could.”

  Her mother bent down and picked up a twisted scrap of metal off the ground. It was the town car's license plate.

  “Hopefully, this will give you the clues you're looking for.” She handed the license plate to Kasey, and then retrieved her car keys from her pocket. “Take the car and get to safety. Your father and I will be here if you need anything. When you're ready, I hope you'll come back.”

  Her mother stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on Kasey's forehead. “I know it's a lot, dear. It was no easier for me when I learned the truth.”

  She turned and walked back into the house, closing the door behind her.

  Kasey didn't know what to say. She had come here looking for information on the Libro Sanguis and had learned more about her family in a single afternoon than she had in her entire life.

  Now she needed to recover the tome. Not just to prevent whatever scheme its bearer had in store but also to protect the secrets of her family. Kasey didn't want anyone else to know her family’s shameful past. Her ancestor had murdered hundreds, and his life's work was so inherently evil that the council had locked it in the vault for centuries. What would they do if they discovered Kasey's connection to it?

  No, the tome had to be destroyed.

  Kasey strode over to her mother's car that sat in the driveway, and then looked at the house. Part of her wanted to go inside, but the rest of her didn't know what that would mean.

  Her mother loved her, but she had also engineered her existence and brought about a series of events that had resulted in Kasey being born with the gift of prescience. That gift had saved the city and untold millions of lives, but it also afflicted Kasey with nightmarish visions that haunted her dreams. Unspeakable murders, acts of violence, and destruction had been her companion since she was a child. She never wanted, or asked for, the gift. It just was how things had always been. Now she knew it was her parents’ doing.

  Kasey unlocked the car and slid into the driver's seat. She just couldn't take this right now. She started the ignition and popped the car into reverse. The car shot back into the street faster than she had expected, sliding in the snow. Hitting the brakes, Kasey took a deep breath to calm her racing heart, then eased the car into drive and headed back to Manhattan. She did her best to ignore the burning town car and what was left of New York's most foolhardy bounty hunter.

  Kasey pulled out her phone and tossed it on the passenger seat beside her.

  “Call Bishop. Put it on speaker,” she said.

  It only took a few rings for Bishop to pick up. “Hey Kasey, what's going on?”

  Kasey was still breathing pretty heavily, and it showed in her voice. “I’ve been better. Just had another hitter try to come for me.”

  “What?” Bishop asked. “I thought you were safe at council headquarters.”

  “I was, but I needed to run down a lead on this tome. I checked with the council. It's every bit as dangerous as Casimir believed. Worse, perhaps. Turns out, it was stolen from the Council in the first place.”

  “I bet they're thrilled about that,” Bishop said.

  “Not in the least. But they didn't have any useful records of what was inside, so I had to go talk to an expert.”


  “One of these days, Kasey, your recklessness is going to get you killed.”

  “Spare me the lecture.” Kasey shook her head even though no one could see her. “I'm really not in the mood. I used a disguise. I figured I would be safe if I moved quickly.”

  “Then how did they find you?” Bishop asked.

  Kasey could hear her pen click in the background, as she began taking notes.

  “Probably the expert I went to see. It was my mother. They must've been watching the house.”

  “Kasey,” Bishop said, reproof evident in her voice.

  “I know. I didn't think my family was common knowledge.”

  “What happened? Is everyone alright?”

  “They caught my mother on a bad day,” Kasey replied, drumming on the steering wheel. “They attempted a drive-by as I was leaving the house. Mom may have returned fire. Whoever they were, they are dead now. You may want to send someone out; there is a hell of a mess.”

  There was silence for a few moments as Bishop tried to process that. “Where are you now?”

  “Heading back to the city,” Kasey replied. “Trying to figure out my next move.”

  “Come on down to the station. Vida has turned up some disturbing insights into the substance our John Doe was using.”

  “What about the angry mob?” Kasey asked.

  “They're gone,” Bishop said. “Apparently the priest is appearing on the news this evening. His little crowd is hovering outside a church downtown. I doubt they will be back. I told West what was happening, and he called in reinforcements. After what happened to Vida, he is not taking any chances. The station has been fortified. No one is getting in here.”

  “Okay. I'm on my way,” Kasey replied, and then hung up the phone.

  She had to love Chief West. He'd seen some of the worst New York City had to offer but instead of opting for early retirement, he'd doubled down at the Ninth Precinct. He’d rebuilt the shattered station and requisitioned the resources from the city for extra officers. If the station was on high alert, it should make for a safe haven, at least while she planned her next move.

  As Kasey drove, she tried to order everything in her mind. She had been through a truly mind-boggling amount since she had woken up and it was all starting to overwhelm her. She needed to sort the important from the unrelated.

  If she could focus on the case at hand, she might be able to work out why the tome had been stolen. It was the true threat. It couldn't be a coincidence.

  The man in the cowl had known exactly what he was looking for and gone through Casimir's until he had found it. Now that she knew what the tome contained, it started to open a number of possibilities in her mind. Setting aside what her mother had shared about her own innate gifts, Kasey focused on the purpose of the Druidic rituals. They seemed to be all about storing and transferring power through blood. Akihiro had to have used that knowledge to create the failsafe in his bomb. Whoever had taken the tome could do similar, or perhaps they were trying to increase their own power like the Welsh Druids of old.

  Next there was the substance that the John Doe had taken before he had hulked out. Kasey had no idea how such a compound might work, in spite of a medical training. Hopefully, Vida had discovered something useful during his analysis that might shed some insight as to what they were up against.

  Next there was Sanders and his obvious obligations to Titania and the summer court of the Fae. There was no telling what was expected of him, but the fact he hadn't managed it yet told Kasey one of two things.

  Either it was extremely difficult and dangerous, or he was simply stalling as he didn't want to undertake the task. If it were a simple task, a wizard as capable as Sanders would have managed it in short order, particularly with the resources of the Arcane Council at his disposal. Kasey didn't want to believe that he would swear an oath that would compromise his principles or cause harm to others, but she also had to admit that he had many secrets surrounding his time spent in Faerie.

  Last but not least, there was the Feudal Court bounty hunt. She had already been attacked by a pair of gnomes and a hired gunman. Given the manner of the most recent attack, Kasey had to believe he was a normal, which meant that the bounty spanned both the supernatural and the normal communities. She was no closer to a solution, but her mother's message might well give them some pause, depending on how she chose to distribute it. The video could also get her arrested if she was not careful. Vigilante justice wasn't something New York City smiled on.

  There was just too much going on. Somehow, it had to be connected. Kasey didn't believe in coincidences.

  As she turned onto East Fifth Street, Kasey slowed down as she came face-to-face with Chief West's countermeasures. Two heavily armored vehicles sat in front of the Ninth Precinct's entrance. One had a water cannon; the other was an armored troop carrier. Dozens of officers in riot gear stood beside them, and a police roadblock screened every vehicle that came down the street.

  Kasey spotted several snipers positioned on buildings lining the street. All that was visible was the barrel of their rifles as they protruded over the edge of their raised positions.

  Kasey rolled up to the blockade and wound down her window. She was just preparing an explanation when she spotted a familiar face.

  “Good to see you, Morales.”

  The officer looked her up and down. “New look, Kasey?”

  “Just something I'm trying out,” Kasey replied. “How are you doing?”

  He bent down to the window. “I've been better, Chase. Mind telling me what manner of mayhem you've gotten us into this time?”

  “What makes you think it's my fault?” Kasey replied with a smile she hoped was a decent impression of an innocent look.

  Morales gestured around. “The chief does all of this and then you show up. Doesn't take a genius to put together the pieces.”

  Kasey leaned closer so that she couldn't be overheard. “Fallout over us going to get Vida back form the Night Crew and their goons. We torched their facility, and they are less than happy about it.”

  Morales smiled. He had no love for the Night Crew. No one in the Ninth Precinct did. “Good. I hope they come again. This time, we’ll be ready.”

  “Give them hell,” Kasey replied.

  “Will do.” Morales stepped back from the vehicle and called to the officers at the roadblock. “Let her through. She’s one of ours.”

  That felt good to hear. Kasey pulled through the gap between the squad cars and turned into the station's parking lot. Locking the car behind her, she raced into the station. She didn't want to spend any longer on the street than she needed to.

  There were as many boots on the ground inside as there were outside, but here she was among friends. The officers waved her through, and Kasey headed straight for the morgue. Located in the basement of the Ninth Precinct, it was where Vida, the precinct’s Chief medical examiner, had his office. It was also where Kasey had worked while she had been on secondment with the Ninth Precinct. While they had been working together, Bishop had spent as much time with them in the morgue as she had in the bullpen upstairs.

  Kasey pushed open the double doors of the morgue and was met with the conflicting scents of disinfectant and death. A body lay on the central examination table covered in a white sheet. Vida and Bishop stood nearby conversing in low tones in front of the whiteboard. In the corner of the room, a TV had been mounted on the wall and was tuned to the local news.

  “Vida, good to see you back on your feet,” Kasey said as she dumped the scorched license plate on the counter.

  Vida had been practically comatose when they had dragged him out over the Night Crew's medical facility. He'd been off work for a few days and according to Bishop, he had only just got back from leave.

  “Only back a day and you brought me a license plate. You're the gift that keeps on giving.”

  “It’s all that’s left of the last person who tried to kill me,” Kasey said as she took a few quick steps acro
ss the morgue and wrapped her arms around him. “Is that any way to greet the person who saved your life?”

  Vida gave a wry grin. “After the number of times you've almost got me killed, I figured this makes us even.”

  Kasey released her grip on him. “Fair's fair, I guess. Occupational hazard of being my friend. Ought to come with some perks every now and again.”

  “I sent some units to your mother's place. They're going to keep an eye out in case anyone returns,” Bishop said.

  “After what she did to the last one, they would have to be suicidal,” Kasey replied. “She's taking the whole ordeal very poorly.”

  “She's going to have to give a statement,” Bishop replied. “You, too. We need to know what happened out there.”

  “It happened like I said on the phone. Drive-by shooting. Mom stopped them with prejudice. It was self-defense.”

  Bishop raised an eyebrow but let it go. “I'm just glad you're alright, Kasey. It was crazy to head outside with the price on your head.”

  “It was necessary,” Kasey replied as she took in the clues scribbled on the whiteboard. “I can’t solve this thing sitting in here.”

  “On the contrary,” Vida interjected, “I think I may have the answers you're looking for.”

  “What did you find?” Kasey asked. It was the first good news she had heard all day.

  Vida pulled back the sheet on the examination table. As Kasey had suspected, it was the John Doe from Casimir's.

  The Incredible Hulk had had an autopsy. His chest cavity was open, and Kasey could see where a number of tissue samples have been taken.

  “I have to admit,” Vida began, “I've never seen anything like this before in my life. Bishop showed me the video and I was utterly perplexed. There is no kind of steroid on the market today that can produce the sort of muscle mass we are looking at in such a short time. I knew we had to be dealing with some sort of new compound. We rushed the blood tests, and you are never going to guess what we found.”

  “Residue of an unknown substance?” Kasey began.