To his credit, Harvey didn’t reply. I had the feeling that the time of reckoning was nigh, though.
She grunted and said, “Follow me.”
Again, I opened an eye and watched her walking in front of us. That body was enough to make me weak in the knees, and in spirit, and in mind. Seriously, damn.
Poor Harvey.
“Are we supposed to shoot her?” I whispered up at him.
“Shit,” he replied and shook his head.
“Thought not.”
I notified Rachel to leave her off the hit list as well. Harvey would take care of them both. Such a shame, I thought as I gave Matilda another gander. Ah well, there are many fish in the sea.
“Supreme Wizard,” she announced, dropping to a knee and putting a fist into her opened hand at head height while bowing slightly, “we have brought you mostly what you asked for.”
“Why only mostly?” came the response. I couldn’t see the face, but that voice fit Shitfaced Fred all right. “There were four, according to my notification runes. Yet I only see one here.”
“The others died in battle,” she replied meekly.
It was clear that she was afraid of this guy. Considering how she’d just treated Harvey, that was surprising. It either meant Fred was a real bad ass—which he clearly was—or she wasn’t as strong-willed, strong-spirited, and strong-minded as she seemed. Could it be that Harvey was just pressing the wrong buttons? I’d seen that kind of thing many times over my years. Well, if we made it out of this alive, I’d have to have a word with him about it. Granted, Matilda would end up doing time for being involved in all of this, but maybe their marriage could be salvaged if he just learned to exert a little control.
“Very disappointing,” Fred said as he approached me. “Set him down.”
Harvey plopped me on the ground. It didn’t feel great, but I understood why he did it that way. If he’d have gingerly set me down, that would have looked suspicious.
I groaned and began acting like I was waking up.
“What happened?” I said. “Where am I?”
“You’ve been captured, Mr. Dex,” said Fred with a very proud smile.
“Captured where?” I was playing the role a little longer so he wouldn’t get suspicious. “Everything is blurry and the sounds are all muffled.”
“Well, we can’t have that,” said Fred and then he flicked his wand at me.
A small bit of energy struck my temple. It didn’t hurt. In fact, it made me feel quite clear-headed. Almost too clear, which I assumed happened because I was just faking my concussion symptoms.
“There, that should do it.”
“Shitfaced Fred?” I replied, blinking at him in mock surprise. “You’re the necromancer?”
His eyes grew dark as the wizards around him all sucked in a worried breath. Obviously he didn’t like the name I’d selected for him. That made me feel good inside.
“Who told you my nickname?” he asked with a hiss as he leaned in so nobody could hear him. “I haven’t been called that in years.”
Okay, that was surprising. You’ve been on this ride with me, so you know I just made up that name from the get-go. I had no insights or intel. There was nothing in the vision that spelled out his name either, let alone his nickname. Maybe this was another skill of mine? Kind of a pointless skill, unless I was destined to be a phone operator in a third-world country at some point in my life.
“Honestly, it was just a guess because of how you looked when I first saw you,” I explained almost apologetically. “That, and I like the name Fred.”
“Well, it’s Frederik, if you please.” His irritation remained apparent. He snapped his fingers at Harvey and pointed at me. “Now, we have business to attend to, Mr. Dex, and your assistance is required.”
Harvey dragged me to my feet and pushed me to follow behind Fred. With each shove, I noticed that Matilda gave Harvey a hint of admiration. So I was right. She was the type of person who wanted a strong hand. I’d seen it on both sides of the fence in relationships. Hell, I preferred the strong hand of Serena, right? Of course I played both ways. Just ask Jasmine. But Matilda’s brand of play was different. She liked being punished. That’s why she was a shit-starter. She would never acquiesce without a fight, but once Harvey earned that respect, she’d be putty in his hands. That, though, all depended on whether or not Harvey was strong enough. I’m not talking physically here, either.
“You realize I’m not going to help you, I hope?” I said to Fred as we approached a table. Beyond the table I spotted Paula seated in one of the chairs. Her eyes were closed. Shit. I swallowed hard but kept my act going. “I don’t care how nicely you ask, either.”
“I wouldn’t dream of asking you, Mr. Dex.”
“Oh.”
If I was being honest, I’d have to say that Fred was kind of terrifying. He was small, sure, and frail, and his face was drawn, and his eyes were sunken into his skull, but there was something even more dark and creepy about him. Beyond the necromancer thing, I mean. He was just…ick.
“What are you planning to do to me?”
His grin was vile. “I’m going to turn you into a zombie, of course.”
Chapter 42
I drew Boomy so fast that Doc Holiday would have raised an impressed eyebrow. I trained it on Fred. If he wanted to play the kill-Ian-Dex game, it’d take more than simple threats.
Within seconds hands were glowing from the mages on his squad, wizards had their wands up and pointed at me, a set of zombies was closing in, and a couple of werewolves and vampires joined them.
“Put down your weapons and calm yourselves,” Fred commanded. He then looked back at me and said, “There you go, Mr. Dex. I’m all yours. You may fire when ready.”
I knew taking a shot at him was going to prove pointless, but I needed to stall so that Rachel, Cletus, and Merle could do whatever it was they were planning to do.
“Before I do,” I said, “what’s been your point of all this?”
“Ah, you wish me to spill the beans of my nefarious plan, eh?”
I shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
“You must watch a lot of movies, Mr. Dex,” he said with an old-man’s chuckle. “Very well, I shall humor you, though you’ll be seeing this unfold firsthand anyway. Of course your perspective will be a bit less clear when that happens.”
“Let’s not forget who is holding the gun here, Fred.”
He sneered. “My name is Frederik. Not Fred. Curb your insolence or I’ll make you wish you’d never been born.”
I laughed at that. “You just said you’re about to kill me, Fred,” I said, continuing to push his buttons. “Still not sure where you get that level of confidence seeing as I’m about to put a bullet in you, but delusions seem to be the norm with you crazy bastards.” His eye was twitching. “Regardless, if you’re going to kill me anyway, what difference does it make about my wishing to have never been born?”
“There are things worse than death, Mr. Dex.”
“Who’s seen too many movies now, Fred?” I shook my head at him. “Seriously, that was pathetic.”
The best part of this entire exchange was seeing all of his minions as they looked from Fred to me to Fred and so on. It was like watching a match at Wimbledon.
“Do you wish to hear of my plans or are you just intent on irritating me to the point of destroying you?”
“Both?” I offered as a possible third option.
“Forget it,” he said, looking even more aggravated than before. “I’ll just kill you now.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I said, shaking the gun at him while wondering where the hell Rachel and crew were. “How about I guess what your dastardly plans are?”
He held up a hand to stop the others from coming in.
“This should prove interesting,” he mused. “Fine. Go ahead.”
“If it’s all the same to you,” I added, while lowering Boomy slightly, “I’d rather not have to point this at you the entire time. Gen
tleman’s agreement that I may speak freely and then reset to our current position?” He seemed perplexed by this request, which all played well into my idea. I needed to put him on edge. “It’s just that I think better when I pace back and forth.”
“Oh, right,” Fred said. “I get that. I’m the same actually.”
“Great minds think alike, they say.”
“Right.” He coughed lightly. “Well, I agree to your terms.” He then turned to his crew and said, “Nobody is to take any action against this man until I say so.”
They all relaxed.
I stuck Boomy back in his holster and cracked my knuckles. The camp was rather small, but a box of the size that I’d seen in my vision could be hidden anywhere. I had to find it.
“My initial thought,” I began as I stepped toward the table, “was that you wanted to systematically terrorize the city until such time that you could just kill off everyone in my department.”
I dropped to tie my shoe and glanced under the table. Nothing.
Jumping back up I continued, “But that seemed too easy for someone of your skill. There had to be more going on than was meeting the eye.”
The group of chairs where Paula was sat off to the side of the table, with a smaller table sitting in their midst. There was also a mini fridge, which I thought was pretty cool considering Fred was supposed to be a villain and all. Taking care of your people’s needs was important, regardless of what you did for a living. On top of the fridge was a framed photograph of Fred in full wizard attire. The word “Master” was etched on the frame at the bottom.
“For a while I had even considered that you were only after me. I was told it was just my ego talking, but you definitely seemed to be going out of your way to coat me with zombie goop.”
“I was merely helping you to acclimate to the role you’ll soon be playing,” he said in a kind way.
“Very generous.”
“Think nothing of it.”
“But I thought for certain my crew was wrong about my ego.” I paused. “Well, they’re right about my ego, but I mean specifically the part regarding you coming after me specifically. But then my ego was justified when you kidnapped Paula. You must have known she and I dated for a while.”
“I did indeed know, and that’s precisely why I took her. I wanted you to come after me.”
I nodded and gave her still form another look.
“So there’s no soul-sucking or anything going on with her?” I tried to keep hopefulness out of my voice.
“No,” he answered. “It was a thought, but I had to use my powers elsewhere. Besides, it’s not like she’s any threat to me. I do, however, plan on making her a zombie as well.”
“Well, that’s thoughtful.”
“Thank you.”
The other three chairs were clear and so was the table. But on top of the fridge behind her I spotted a box that looked nearly identical to the one Fred’s master had been holding in my vision. Even the etchings looked similar. Not identical, but I’m sure that Fred had made some enhancements over the years. I hadn’t spotted it originally because it was sitting behind that picture of Fred.
I spun on my heel, trying to keep my excitement at bay.
“Then it finally hit me,” I said while wagging a finger at him as I held a mischievous grin. “You were planning to build an army of zombies through two major channels. The first one was via graves. That was the easiest one.”
“Not as easy as you may think,” Fred rebutted. “Necromancy is a challenging art that requires years of dedication. And it ravages your body in the process.”
“So I noticed,” I said as he showed me his gnarled hands. I opened a channel to Rachel so that she could listen in. “But you wanted to attack in a more prominent way, which brings me to the second channel you decided to use.”
“Keep egging him on,” Rachel said, “we’re closing in.”
“The graves brought you enough zombies to kill residents. From there you’re planning to raise those you kill, turning them into zombies, and then you’ll watch your army grow and grow.”
He clapped his hands as I moved back into place and withdrew Boomy, resetting it in position. I had to hand it to Fred that he had kept his word about that. Most bad guys wouldn’t have.
“Well done, Mr. Dex,” he said almost proudly, “though I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that my plan wasn’t all that complicated to figure out. Why go elegant when you can do the straight and narrow?” It was his turn to pace. “But you did miss one thing, I’m afraid.”
“What’s that?”
“You, Mr. Dex.” He had his hands clasped behind his back. “You’re an amalgamite. You have many traits that I can expand once you’re under my command.” I glanced over at Matilda. Her eyelashes were fluttering. “Killing you is the first step of that because I have no desire to be in a constant battle of wills. But once that’s done, you’ll be brought back with a mind even more numb than your current one.” I felt that I should have been offended by that. “That’s when all that you are capable of, Mr. Dex, will be at my disposal.”
He stopped and looked at me with questioning eyes.
“We’re going to wait for your play,” said Rachel, “and then we’ll commence.”
“Fine,” I replied and then glanced up at Fred’s cataract-laden eyes. I didn’t want him to know I was communicating with Rachel. “Fine, fine, fine. Sensible, too, I must admit.”
“Oh,” he said, adding a little skip to his step as he returned to his original spot. “I believe I was about here, no?”
“Close enough.”
“Please do fire, Mr. Dex,” he said with a wink. “I do so wish to get things moving.”
“I will, but I have a couple more questions, if you don’t mind?”
He sighed heavily. “Go on.”
“What was with the skeletons?” I used the notches on the barrel of Boomy to scratch the side of my head. “I get the zombies, but the skeletons just seemed dumb. I mean, no offense, but what were you thinking there?”
His head was bouncing while I was speaking. Apparently, he agreed with the skeletons being a weak move on his part, but I was still curious as to his reasoning.
“It was another attempt at trying to make the zombies tougher to kill,” he explained. “Sadly, I went a little overboard in my planning and ended up with skeletons. They were instrumental in my setting triggers against your mages though.”
“True, that was cruel indeed.”
He waved a dismissive hand. “It’s a little late for flattery, Mr. Dex.”
“Never hurts to try. You also had a zombie who was speaking to me in full sentences. It was a little creepy, if I were being honest. Were you controlling him directly or something?”
“No,” he answered, “but that’s a novel idea. I did see this vocalization happen with a couple of zombies myself, though. My only guess is that they were freshly dead and therefore able to use their voices better than the others. It was a fortunate happenstance, though, since I’ve been able to use them for power words.”
“So we’ve noticed.”
Fred tapped his watch. “If that’s all, Mr. Dex, I would appreciate it if we could get a move on. I have a city to invade, after all.”
“You bet, Fred,” I said, turning the gun toward the little box.
I fired.
It exploded.
Chapter 43
Time seemed to freeze as the light dissipated from the explosion. There was no debris or even a shockwave. It was just a bright light and boom.
“Ha ha!” Fred exclaimed, clapping his hands. “I was right!”
I was baffled.
Shooting the box should have ended everything. Seeing that it didn’t meant that this was a trap, especially after Fred’s declaration about being right. About what, I had no idea, but it couldn’t have been beneficial to me and my team.
“Rachel,” I whispered while pretending to check my gun, “don’t engage yet. It’s a trap.”
“I saw that,” she answered. “We’re going to take a different angle on this. Hang tight.”
“Uh…” I said, looking up at Fred. “What was it you were right about again?”
“When you bumped into me near Freemont, Mr. Dex, I felt something odd. It was an energy transference of some sort.” He looked to be searching for an answer. “I couldn’t explain it then, and I’ll be honest and say that even now I’m rather confused by precisely what happened, but it felt as though a piece of my history left me.”
“Couldn’t that just be senility?”
“Cute,” he replied with a cheap grin. “Still, something told me that you would know more about me than I’d expected. Thus, when it came time to finally meet you, I took the one thing that held my greatest power, my personal essence, and hid it away.” His hands were rubbing together in that evildoer kind of way, which was just a shade over mad scientist style. “Then, as a test, I created another box that was nearly identical. I figured that if you searched for it and destroyed it, my assumption would be correct.” He motioned at the spot where the box had been sitting a minute ago. “It seems my supposition was dead on.”
What was the point of Flashes if they told the bad guy you were getting intel on him?
“Well, I guess that worked out in your favor.”
I fired Boomy at him and the bullet stopped an inch in front of his face and dropped.
I sighed.
“Had to try,” I said, shrugging.
“It would be foolish of you not to,” Fred agreed. “But now that you’ve put in your pitiful attempt, and noting that I have a lot of firepower standing here that not even you, Mr. Dex, could hope to overcome…. May I suggest that you lay down your weapon and take your medicine?”
“Do it,” Rachel said. “I have a plan.”
“You sure,” I replied, keeping my lips from moving. “I really don’t want to be a zombie.”
“Do it,” she replied more insistently.
I dropped my gun and put my hands up in surrender. Whatever Rachel’s plan was, it had better be good. Being dead or undead or reanimated or whatever the hell you wanted to call it sounded pretty dismal, especially since I’d end up in the undignified position of serving this old fart.
The Ian Dex Supernatural Thriller Series: Books 1 - 4 (Las Vegas Paranormal Police Department Box Sets) Page 28