Rite of Passage: An Alastair Stone Urban Fantasy Novel (Alastair Stone Chronicles Book 26)

by R. L. King

  “You mean, you two had—”

  “We hadn’t meant for it to happen—we’d talked about getting married, having a child someday in the future, but we were both too caught up in our research to consider it.” She smiled and ruffled Jeremy’s hair. “But happy accidents happen sometimes.”

  Stone thought about Ian and mirrored her smile. “They do.”

  “Jeremy’s been my only bright spot since any of this happened. He’s probably the reason I’m still here.”

  Stone knew about those feelings, too. “Well…then I’m very glad for your happy accident. Because the world would be a far dimmer place without you in it, Daphne.”

  “You’re sweet—but I’m not so sure you’re right about that.”

  He didn’t need aura reading to spot her growing melancholy, so he dragged the discussion back to its original path. “So…what are you doing here, of all places? I’d have thought you’d never want to see any of this again.”

  “I didn’t think so either. But…it’s been a long time, and I realized this place isn’t just the site of…terrible things. It’s also where Neil grew up. He played around here when he was a child. I thought Jeremy might want to see it.” She looked pensive for a moment, then asked, “Do you know what happened to the cave?”

  “That’s…part of the story I need to tell you. I promise I will, but not right now.” He returned to the pew and sat. “You mentioned seeing your mother…does that mean you’re ready to come back? To rejoin society?”

  “I don’t know.” Her gaze returned to her lap. “I don’t know, Alastair. We were just coming up here so I could take a little trip with Jeremy…show him where his father used to play. I never expected to meet anybody up here, let alone you. You…won’t tell anyone, will you?”

  “Of course not. It’s not my place to tell anyone. But…I’d like to stay in touch with you. If there’s anything I can do to help…”

  “I don’t know that there is at this point, to be honest. I’ve got a whole new identity, Jeremy and I keep to ourselves, and we like it that way.” She narrowed her eyes, shifting suddenly from melancholy to sharp curiosity. “You mentioned you’re here looking for some kind of anomaly. What’s that about?”

  Stone wasn’t sure if she was trying to change the subject, but he was willing to indulge her, at least for a little while. “I’ve got a friend back in the Bay Area. He looks into these sorts of things, and while he was doing that, he spotted something unusual in this general area. He’s not much for investigation himself, so he asked me to check it out for him. As soon as he told me where it was, my mind immediately went back to here.”

  “Why? Because of the portal?”

  “Because of…what happened to the portal later on.”

  “What are you talking about? I told you, it disappeared. There was no sign of it when I woke up. Not even to magical sight.”

  “Yes, well…it didn’t disappear. Not completely. It—well, something related to it—came back.”

  “I don’t understand.” She was all scientist now, her gaze burning with curiosity. “How could it come back?”

  He sighed. “Daphne, it’s going to be dark soon. I don’t know if you were just up here for a day trip or if you’re camping—”

  “Camping. We’ve set up a campsite not too far from here.”

  “I’m just up here for the day. I’ve got no gear and I don’t fancy spending the night out here, so I’ll need to leave soon. The road up here was impassable, so I parked my Jeep a half-mile or so down it. Do you have a vehicle?”

  She nodded. “We parked a little further away. Didn’t want to risk tearing out the undercarriage, and the hike was fun.” She smiled at Jeremy, who looked up at her.

  Stone glanced at the boy, wanting to ask more about him but not wanting to be rude.

  Daphne seemed to catch on. “Hey, honey, why don’t you go off and explore for a bit while I talk to Alastair? It’s got to be boring for you, listing to a couple of old fuddy-duddies talking about grown-up stuff.” She gave him a little nudge. “Just don’t go far, okay? Stay where you can see the church.”

  The two of them exchanged a long look, then Jeremy nodded and stood. He glanced at Stone one more time, then hurried off through the hole.

  Daphne watched him go until he disappeared, then turned back to Stone. “He’s a good kid. You want to know more about him, don’t you?”

  “Only if you want to tell me. It’s none of my business.”

  “You want to know why he doesn’t talk.”

  “Again, none of my business. I assumed he was mute, or perhaps some sort of autistic.”

  “He’s not mute. He makes sounds sometimes.” She sighed. “Autism is probably a better explanation, though it’s not technically correct. I’ve had him checked out, as much as I can without having to reveal too much about myself. He’s very smart, I know that much.”

  Stone gave a faint smile. “With you two as parents, that sort of goes without saying, I’d wager.”

  “He’s sweet, too. Very kind. He reminds me a lot of Neil in many ways, even though they never had the chance to meet.” She bowed her head again. “I wish they could have.”

  “I’m sorry, Daphne. I truly am.”

  “Me too…but it’s been a long time. It still hurts when I think about it, but it’s more like…I’ve grown a protective covering over it, if that makes any sense.”

  Stone thought about all the people he’d lost in his life—his father, Deirdre, William Desmond, Edwina Mortenson—and knew exactly what she meant.

  “It’s so good to see you,” she said. “Even if I never expected to. I guess I’d forgotten about what it was like to see old friends.”

  “You don’t have to do this, you know. You don’t have to stay hidden.”

  She looked away. “I…kind of think I do, at this point. If I turned up, you know as well as I do that things would get out of control in a big hurry. I know people were looking for me—all of us—after we disappeared, and I’m sure they must have given up by now.”

  “Probably.” Stone spoke reluctantly, but he was sure she must be right. He didn’t think the police had either the desire or the resources to continue pursuing an eleven-year-old cold case. “So…you’ve just given up on magic? You’ve been living as a mundane for all this time?”

  “Not…entirely. As much as possible, but we’d never have been able to hide without using some magic.” She shook her head. “But if you don’t mind, I don’t really want to talk about that right now. It’s so good to see you. It was a shock, sure, but…” She smiled. “You look so good, Alastair. Tell me what you’ve been up to.”

  He shrugged. “Oh, this and that.”

  “Still teaching at Stanford?”

  “Yes, but only two days a week. I’ve got a house in a little town near the University, and I pop back and forth between there and England fairly regularly. Oh, and I’ve got a cat.”

  Her eyes widened, and she grinned. “You? A cat?”

  “I know, I’d never have believed it either, but we’ve grown quite attached to each other over the years.” Stone felt strange talking about normal things like cats and houses when he was still convinced more was going on with Daphne. But he couldn’t exactly shake her and force her to tell him everything. They’d have time now, he supposed. Even if she didn’t want to rejoin the world and reveal her identity, perhaps the two of them—well, the three of them, now—could remain in touch. Maybe he could even talk her into letting him introduce her to Jason, Verity, and Amber.

  But before any of that happened, he still had Kolinsky’s anomaly to hunt down—if it was even there at all. He was beginning to think it wasn’t. Either that, or it was somehow related to Daphne’s appearance here. The two did seem far too coincidental. But if she was telling the truth and had only arrived here today, it wasn’t possible for her to be responsible, since Kolinsky had detected the anomaly yesterday.

  If she’s telling the truth…

  He hated to
be suspicious. She certainly seemed like Daphne, and she’d known things only the real Daphne would know. But mages were suspicious by nature, and Stone more so than most.

  She was watching him now, almost as if she could see the wheels in his head turning. “You’ve got something on your mind. You never could hide that from me, you know.”

  He leaned back against the pew. “I suppose I do.”

  “Want to share?”

  He sighed. “I just…this whole thing seems odd to me, that my friend would detect this strange energy and then you and Jeremy turn up. Even though I’m only speculating that this is the specific spot where the energy appeared, don’t you think it’s a bit suspicious that you’d show up here so soon after?” He kept his tone even and nonconfrontational—just a scientist gathering data.

  Daphne nodded slowly. “You know, it does. I won’t deny it. But what can I say? I assume you scanned Jeremy and me as soon as you saw us. Did you pick up any of this energy?”

  “No. I haven’t picked it up anywhere near here. I wandered around the whole area, including checking out the cave…”

  She narrowed her eyes. “The cave. It’s gone, you know. It looks like it…well…caved in. That was the first place I wanted to take Jeremy, to show him where his dad used to play. Do you know what happened to it?”

  “I…do.” Stone looked down. “That’s part of the story I want to tell you. It’s long and fairly complicated, and parts of it are going to disturb you. But you’ve got a right to know.”

  She didn’t answer for a while, then looked up. “I have an idea. You said you weren’t camping, but we are, and I’ve got some extra gear in our camper. Why don’t you stay with us tonight? Trust me, Jeremy sleeps like the dead, so after he’s asleep, maybe you can tell me this story. I don’t know about you, but I’m not tired in the slightest.”

  Stone considered. He still wasn’t sure he wanted to go to sleep around her and her silent son, but his personal wards were good enough to alert him if anything strange was going on. He didn’t have any compelling reason to be back today. And, if he wanted to admit it, he wasn’t ready to leave Daphne yet. He still had so many things he wanted to ask her. His romantic feelings for her had long since faded, but she’d still been one of his best friends and closest colleagues. To have her back, against all odds, after all this time…

  “All right,” he said. “I’ll do it.” He chuckled. “You do remember I hate camping, though, right?”

  She laughed, the merriment in her sparkling eyes making her look at least five years younger. “I do remember that. You can sleep in the camper if you want, after we talk. And I think I’ve even got a couple bottles of something in there that you might like, to make roughing it a bit more palatable.”

  “You know me too well. I can’t turn down an offer like that.”

  Daphne rose. “It’s settled, then. Just let me call Jeremy, and we’ll head off. The campsite’s about half a mile from here, on the other side of town.” She turned toward the hole where the boy had disappeared. “Jeremy! Come on, honey. We’re leaving!”

  She waited, but nothing happened. No small, slim figure appeared in the opening.

  Stone glanced at her in concern, but she waved him off. “He gets focused sometimes—you know, finds a leaf or a rock or something—and forgets about time. But he won’t be far. He never goes far.” She hurried to the opening and stepped outside into the growing dimness. “Jeremy!”

  Still there was no answer. Stone hurried after her and stepped through as well. She was standing a few feet from the church, peering into the trees. “Jeremy!” she yelled, louder. “Come on, kiddo. We’re heading out.”

  When more time passed without any sign of the boy, she turned back to Stone. Now, her expression was more serious. “I’m sure he’s fine. Like I said, he probably found something and got distracted.”

  “Shall we look for him?” Stone switched to magical sight and scanned the forest, but saw no sign of any auras other than the faint green ones of the trees and a few tiny, brighter green ones of birds and small animals.

  “Let’s check around the church. He’s very obedient, normally, so if I told him not to lose sight of the building, he’s got to be around here somewhere.” She pointed. “Why don’t you go that way, and I’ll go this way. We’ll meet on the other side.”

  Stone set off toward the back of the church, moving briskly but slowly enough that he could keep magical sight up for most of the time. He suspected that, despite Daphne’s insistence that Jeremy would obey her directive to stay close, he was still a young boy in a strange and interesting place. Even disregarding the odd, autism-like condition he had, curiosity was a powerful force. Ask me how I know that, he thought wryly as he rounded the corner, stopping occasionally to scan the trees again. The sun was almost fully down now. It would be dark soon, which might actually make the boy easier to find. It was harder to hide auras in the darkness.

  By the time he made it all the way around the church, though, he’d seen no sign of Jeremy. Daphne met him at the corner near the front door, and now she definitely looked worried.

  “This isn’t like him at all,” she said when she reached Stone. “He wouldn’t just run off.” Her aura sparked with red, clearly indicating her concern. “Where could he have gone?”

  “Calm down,” he said gently, even though he knew it was pointless. He was getting concerned too. He had no idea what might be lurking out in these woods, and Jeremy hadn’t seemed the type to be very good at handling himself in unfamiliar situations. “Is it possible he might have got bored and gone back to your campsite?”

  She sighed, shaking her head. “I doubt it. He might have tried, but he’s terrible with direction—he sometimes gets lost at the mall, so I don’t let him wander. That’s why I told him to stay close. I’m such an idiot. I never should have let him out of my sight out here.”

  “It’s all right. We’ll find him. Suppose we split up and look for him. You go back to the campsite in case he did manage to find his way there, and I’ll poke around here. There’s another building at the other end of town—there used to be a jail there. Maybe he found it. Young boys love jail cells.”

  She nodded, but didn’t look convinced. “I don’t know what else to do. Thank you, Alastair. I’m sorry for the trouble.”

  “No trouble at all. He can’t have got far, and he can’t hide from a couple of mages. We’ll find him. Let’s meet back at the church in half an hour. Hopefully one of us will have found him by then. If not, we’ll figure something else out. If nothing else, we can do a tracking ritual.”

  She brightened. “You’re right. I’m glad one of us has our head on straight. All right, I’ll see you back here in half an hour. And that kid is going to get a good talking-to when we find him.”

  6

  By the time half an hour passed and Stone headed back to the church, he was more than concerned.

  He’d seen no sign of Jeremy—not even any traces or leftover psychic energy indicating something bad had happened to him. It was as if the boy had vanished without a trace.

  His first stop had been the only other mostly-intact building in the town—the tiny police station with its single cell where Jason and Verity had been held captive by the Evil. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d told Daphne he thought Jeremy might have discovered it. It had been a long time since he’d been a young boy, but he’d got into his share of trouble wandering off to investigate interesting things back in those days. Hell, he sometimes still got himself in over his head doing that—but at least now he was better equipped to deal with it. A nonverbal boy with no magic could run into all kinds of problems.

  He quickly determined, though, that Jeremy wasn’t there. He looked around inside the building, noting that the furniture inside was either gone or broken and that someone had removed the door from the jail cell—perhaps the authorities following the explosion, to make sure nobody accidentally got locked inside. The bars were rusty and the cell itself full of tra
sh, leaves, and other debris. Definitely no young boys.

  Stone doubted anybody else was up here, since it would be a long way for homeless people or transients to travel for not much of a benefit, but anything was possible. His brain served up all sorts of scenarios: perhaps whatever had caused the energy surge was still here somewhere and had affected Jeremy, or maybe some criminal types were using the abandoned town as a hiding place. The longer he went without discovering any trace of the boy, the more nervous he got.

  He checked the rest of that end of town, poking around in broken-down buildings, wandering a short distance into the forest, all the time calling the boy’s name. He didn’t bother levitating, since the trees were so thick he wouldn’t be able to spot any auras beneath them even if one was there.

  Finally, as the end of their allotted time grew close, he trudged back into town to meet Daphne at the church. Maybe she’d been wrong, and Jeremy had returned to the campsite. He hoped so. If not, they’d have two choices at this point: either call the authorities, which he didn’t think Daphne wanted to do, or set up a tracking ritual inside the church. They didn’t have any ritual materials, but the parent-child relationship was the strongest one existent, magically speaking. Between the two of them, they could wing it, especially since the kid couldn’t have strayed far away in such a short time.

  Daphne wasn’t at the church when he reached it. He glanced at his watch, thinking he might be early, but thirty-five minutes had already passed since they’d separated. He couldn’t remember if she’d been wearing a watch, but she must have a phone. Damn, should have got her number. But it was too late for that now, and in any case it was hard to get a signal up here in the great bugger-all.

  He stepped through the hole into the church. It was dark and it was getting a little chilly even on this calm spring night, so maybe she and Jeremy were waiting for him inside. It made sense.

  But they weren’t there. The place had the same empty feeling as before.

  “Daphne?” he called, turning around. “Jeremy? Are you here?”