by Morgan Hawke
~ Fourteen ~
Inspector Coventry finally called, at exactly the most inconvenient time—during dinner.
Dressed in an old pair of hip-hugger jeans and a cropped black T-shirt scrawled with 'Don't make me call my winged monkeys', Sygni took the phone from Bernard and dropped into a chair by the windows so she wouldn't disturb the others trying to eat. Her dinner, of course, was getting cold. “This is Sygni, let her rip, Inspector."
That's exactly what he did, at volume.
* * * *
Sygni walked back to her place at the table and set the slim cordless phone by her plate. Glass and china gleamed under golden light from the small chandelier. Night was black against the narrow windows that spread across the left wall. She faced the group scattered around the table. “We have a problem."
"A problem?” Morwyn poured wine into her glass. Her sleek black hair was pulled back into a snug tail and she was dressed casually in faded jeans and a deep blue T-shirt with ‘If you don't want to know, don't ask'.. She set the bottle down on the table and looked across the table at Sygni. “What kind of a problem?"
Sygni held her gaze steadily. “The Inspector says he can't find the factory."
Galen's brows dropped. “What?” He set his glass of German Dark beer carefully down on the table. “But I heard you give him the right directions."
Sygni looked to her left at Galen. “He says that there is no Industrial Park road, never mind a lot sixty-one. The neighborhood I described doesn't exist.” Sygni glanced down at the lamb on her plate. Her appetite was completely gone.
Sam, on her right, almost dropped his fork. “Your Inspector needs his glasses checked. How the hell could he miss it? It's friggin’ huge!"
Morwyn's pressed her linen napkin to her lips and her brow furrowed. “An illusion to hide it?"
"No.” Sygni shook her head. “According to the Inspector, there used to be an Industrial Park, but that whole area was torn down and rebuilt back in the seventies. It's now the South Century Garden Estates.” In fact, he had shouted it in her ear. Then he had hung up on her.
Morwyn eyes widened. “It's in a suburb?"
"That's impossible!” Sam's hand closed into a fist. “There's no way in hell it's there. I empty trash there. I know that whole damned neighborhood back to front and a factory that big and that ugly is really hard to miss.” He scowled. “It has to be somewhere else!"
"It's not anyplace else.” Sygni got up and paced by her chair, brow furrowed in concentration. “It has to be a time-still, which would also explain why every tree and bush out there is seriously dead."
"A time-still?” Morwyn's brows shot up. “Over an entire neighborhood?"
"It's the only thing that makes sense.” Sygni scowled. “I've been to those suburbs myself, but when I was going to the factory, I never even saw the signs for Century Estates. The time-still has to cover the whole thing."
"Sygni, if it is a time-still, only someone keyed to go through it would be able to find the door."
"He has to have a stationary pass-through, a set door to go in and out or I would have never gotten in there.” Sygni shook her head. “But I'm betting Gruber has closed the door, which is probably why the Inspector can't find him."
Sam glanced at Morwyn, then Sygni. “Excuse my screaming ignorance here, but some of us are still new to this shit. What the hell is a time-still?"
"Oh, sorry, Sam.” Morwyn reached for her glass of wine “It's where a sorcerer grabs a moment in time, like a snap-shot, then pulls it out of time and holds it in it's own little side pocket of reality that keeps it's own time. Trees and building torn down in real-time still exist in this reality."
"Oh, I see...” Sam nodded. He abruptly shook his head. “No, I lied, I don't see. How do you peel out a chunk of reality and just—keep it?"
"You have to have a lot of power, and want it really bad.” Sygni shrugged. “Just like any form of magic, the whole thing is maintained in the mage's mind. As long as he insists that it's there, it exists."
Sam tapped his finger against his temple. “So, what you're saying is that I've been living in some guy's imagination?"
"Um...” Sygni looked over at Galen then back at Sam. “Yes."
"Now, wait just a friggin’ minute!” Sam pointed at his chest. “Does this mean I'm just a figment of somebody's imagination? Or am I a figment of my own?” He shook his head. “Am I even real? Or is this some fucked-up dream I'm having before the alarm goes off and it's time to get in the garbage truck?"
Galen frowned. “You know, that's a damned good question."
"Relax, guys, you're both real.” Sygni rolled her eyes. “I'm not saying he doesn't have a few figments running around his little pocket paradise, but if you were a figment, you would not have been able to leave."
Galen and Sam exchanged glances.
"Well, that's a relief.” Sam grimaced. “I think."
Galen leaned back in his chair and stared at his beer. “Maybe for you."
"Sygni...” Morwyn bit her lip. “A time-still that big, with a stationary door takes an awful lot of power. More than you currently have."
Sygni rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. “Tell me something I don't know.” She couldn't begin to imagine how much energy had gone in to building it, never mind maintaining it. A time-still wasn't something she'd tried to do herself, not even at full power.
"What I don't understand...” Morwyn frowned at the ruby liquid in her glass. “Is with that much control over the whole neighborhood, he should have easily trapped you in there. Why didn't he?"
Sygni snorted. “He was a little busy at the time. I left a few dozen imps as a distraction."
Morwyn grinned. “For once, I'm glad you're a bad witch."
Sygni smiled. “Me too.” She looked over at Sam. “Sam, how long were you there? When did Gruber hire you? How, by Hela's tits, did Gruber hire you?"
Sam opened his mouth then closed it and frowned. “I was there, I think maybe three days or so? It's hard to tell. Tyrone and I didn't go upstairs or outside. And now that I think about it, I'm not really sure how I started working there. My memory is kinda fuzzy on that."
Morwyn's brows lifted. “You didn't leave? Not even to go home?"
Sam shook his head. “Nope. We slept on cots in this big empty room right off an old shower room like a school has.” He looked over into blank space. “It's weird, but I never even thought about leaving, about going home.” He looked up. “But as soon as I got furry, that's all I could think about, getting the hell out."
Morwyn bit her lip. “Sounds as if turning you into a werewolf shattered a binding."
Sam frowned. “A binding?"
"It's a kind of ‘you stay here’ spell.” Sygni set her elbows on the table. “What was the last thing you remember, right before you started working for him?"
Sam shrugged. “Emptying cans.” His eyes widened. “Wait, I was half-way through my morning route out back behind the high school when Tyrone yelled for me to come look at something. The next thing I remember is sitting in the big room under the factory and listening to Tyrone talking to Gruber. He was saying sure, we'd love to make a big wad of cash by helping out."
Sygni frowned. “Do you remember going into the factory?"
"No, not the first time. And what's so weird, is I didn't think anything of it when we drove out in the van to get the wolf and to...” He blushed and looked over at Galen. “To pick up Galen.” He looked back at Sygni. “I remember thinking on the way back that the drive should have taken us past the Estates, but I never saw the turn-off either time."
Morwyn frowned. “Where did you get the wolf from?"
Sam shrugged. “We picked him up at the train station.” He bit his lip. “Poor thing was a nervous wreck, too."
Sygni scowled. “Somebody shipped it. That means somebody outside that factory is working with Gruber."
Galen leaned forward and draped his arms over the table. “I bet it's his mysterious buyer."
Morwyn tilted her head. “A buyer?"
Sygni flinched. She'd forgotten to mention that. “Gruber is trying to manufacture werewolves and vampires for sale."
"What?” Morwyn gasped. “But that's insane!"
Galen lifted his chin. “Don't forget that Gruber also said that he has a buyer for you too, Sygni."
"That is not even funny.” Morwyn's cheeks paled. “If someone wants you, Sygni, that means that they think they have the means to control you."
Sygni smiled sourly. “They're still trying to find all the pieces to the last sorcerer that tried that.” The scumbag sorcerer had thought a twelve-year-old witch kid was easy prey. Boy, had he been mistaken. She hadn't actually meant to blow him to pieces, but back then her powers were new, and very much triggered by instinct rather than will. Speaking of kids...
Sygni turned back to Sam. “Did you see the kid?"
Morwyn choked on her wine. “There's a kid?"
"That's no kid.” Sam scowled. “He's a punk-ass monster disguised as a teen-ager.” He turned to Morwyn. “That little shit was the one that turned me and the wolf into this.” He raised his hand and it turned furry and clawed before their eyes. He wiggled his claws and they returned to being human fingers. “Gruber just handed him the book, and told me to get in the cage to hold the wolf. I had the poor beast in my arms when that kid said something weird and zapped us both into an eight-foot fur-ball."
Sygni stared wide-eyed. “The kid is mage-kind? Then we're not dealing with one sorcerer, we're dealing with two. Fuck."
Galen tapped a finger on the table. “Don't forget the buyer. He may be one, too."
Sygni tossed back her blonde mane. “This is getting better by the minute.” She threw up her hands. “Why? Why does my territory have to get this shit?"
"Satan's ass, what a mess.” Morwyn shook her head. “What are we going to do?"
Sygni dropped her hands and scowled. “Only one thing we can do. Break in, get the kid out and then take Gruber out. If he's sitting in a time-still, I can blow his whole operation sky-high and it won't affect anyone."
Morwyn turned sharply to face Sygni. “Blowing it will affect you and anyone else in that pseudo-realm. Make damn sure everyone is out before you dismantle that thing! You don't know what's sitting where. If time reasserts itself while you are in there, you could find yourself halfway through a wall, a floor or crushed under a ton of concrete."
Sygni nodded at Galen. “Cheerful, isn't she?"
"Sygni! I'm serious!” Morwyn slapped the table. “Don't let that ego of yours get in the way again."
Sygni winced. “I know. I'll be careful."
Morwyn lifted her chin. “And take the Inspector with you."
"The Inspector?” Sygni rolled her eyes. “But he's such a pain in the ass!"
Morwyn raised a brow. “And you're not?” She sighed. “You're dealing with two, maybe three sorcerers. You can't afford lone gunman tactics. You need a second fully trained mage to go in there with you."
Sygni shook her head. “He's only a beta-grade, he could might get in my way or get hurt...” Or tattle.
Morwyn shot her a narrow glare. “You may be an omega, but you'll still need a second pair of hands if you get busy. Also, having the Inspector makes you on official business. It will ensure that you don't get into any legal trouble if your pyrotechnics overlap into somebody's home in current time."
Sygni scowled. “All right, I'll invite him to our party."
Galen frowned at Sygni. “Gruber said you were an alpha-grade."
Sygni winced. “I am an alpha-grade when the power you hold is cut off from me. At full power, I'm an omega. That means you stay with me at all times, so we don't get cut off from each other."
Galen crossed his arms and curled his lip. “Aye, aye, captain."
Sam shook his head. “I'm not even going to pretend I know what any of this alpha-omega stuff means."
Morwyn sighed. “It means that no one has been able to measure just how much power Sygni has access to. Omega is the highest grade they list, so that's what they labeled her."
Galen's eye widened. “Holy shit..."
Sygni scowled. “It not everything it's cut out to be, trust me. I nearly killed myself with my own powers more than once. I almost didn't make it into adulthood."
"Adulthood?” Morwyn snorted. “You almost didn't make it into high-school!"
Sygni scowled. “It was not my fault that my house burned down and triggered my powers early!” It was not her fault that her parents had died in that fire either, but ... She jerked herself away from that circle of guilt-ridden thought.
Morwyn sighed. “I was talking about the sorcerer you demolished when you were twelve, not the fire."
"Oh...” Sygni bit her lip and turned away. Inspector Coventry had tried to send her for erasure for that. Unfortunately for Coventry, she'd been a minor with an obvious case of self-defense. He'd been a major pain in her ass ever since.
Galen sat back in his chair. “Then she wasn't kidding about not finding all the pieces of the last guy that tried to hold her?"
Morwyn shook her head. “She turned his binding spell inside out and somehow reflected it back on him. It literally tore him apart. I'm afraid that Coventry was first on the scene when she destroyed the sorcerer that had kidnapped her, so he got quite an eyeful of the mess. He was very new to the inspection bureau, so he ... Let's just say he wasn't exactly sympathetic."
Sam swallowed. “And she was twelve?"
"All I was trying to do was wrap him in his own binding. I didn't mean to kill him.” Sygni winced. “I didn't know how strong I was.” She looked down at her lap, afraid to see the fear in Galen and Sam's eyes. Hela's tits, she hated it when people were afraid of her.
"Accidents happen when you're new at something.” Sam chuckled. “Hell, you should have see me trying to drive the garbage truck the first time. Rolled right over a whole line of garbage cans. Never even felt them."
Sygni clenched her teeth. “Your accidents don't kill people."
Sam leaned forward on the table. “They do now. I'm still not sure how strong I really am in full werewolf form. On top of that, my furry side likes to eat what it kills.” He abruptly paled. “That didn't come out right, did it?"
"No, dear, it did not.” Morwyn bit her lip to keep from laughing. “Don't worry, it's normal for your wolf nature to hunt."
Galen snorted. “Personally, I'm glad you blew that piece of shit away. Good for you, Sygni."
Sygni looked up at Galen then Sam and smiled. “Thanks, guys."
Galen grinned. “No problem."
Sam shrugged and picked up his fork. “Anytime."
Morwyn lifted her chin. “Galen, since you hold half her power, it's entirely possible that you are an alpha-grade magus in your own right."
"Me? A magus?” Galen looked over at Sygni. “So, what does this mean?"
Sygni gave him a sour smile. “It means that you have to be careful what you wish for. You might just get it."
Morwyn shook her head. “A magus is anyone with magical ability. All the other labels, such as sorceress or wizard, are personal choice. An alpha means that you're very strong in ability."
Galen's brows shot up. “You mean I could blow someone away too?"
Sygni shrugged. “It's possible."
Galen grinned. “Sweet!"
Sygni shook her head, but couldn't quite conceal her smile. Of course the vampire would be pleased.
Morwyn looked over at Sygni. “You realize we're going to have to report his status to the Inspector."
"That's all we need.” Sygni groaned and flopped back in her chair. “I can just see it now ... Hello, Inspector? I'd like to register an alpha-grade magus? Oh, and he's a vampire.” She winced. “Coventry is going to blow a blood-vessel."
Morwyn frowned. “It has to be done. Galen will be in a lot of trouble if he does something magical while unregistered.” She looked over at Sam. “I'm sorry, but you're go
ing to have to be registered, too."
Sam rolled his eyes. “Oh, as if I didn't see that coming."
Galen frowned at Morwyn. “Just how bad is this Coventry?"
Sygni looked at Galen. “He has a shoot-first policy for weirdness."
Galen flinched. “That's bad."
Morwyn sighed. “Coventry is not bad per se ... He's a very good detective and normally a very level-headed cop. He's just uncomfortable around magic."
"Uncomfortable?” Sygni snorted. “He hates magical anything. He's one of those: ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’ people."
Galen frowned “But isn't he a sorcerer, too?"
"But he's working for the law; that makes him different.” Sygni snorted. “He calls himself a mage, like it's better than a witch or a sorcerer."
Morwyn set her elbows on the table. “The problem with Inspector Coventry is that he came into his power very late. By the time it manifested, he'd already run into one too many magical beings that abused their power.” She nodded toward Sygni. “Inspectors are supposed to keep that kind of thing under control and hidden from the general public, but most people call the police first, so ordinary police officers do end up facing bad magic. Most people don't even know true magic exists."
"Hell, I was clueless. I didn't know real magic was even possible.” Sam looked over at Galen. “How about you?"
"Just as clueless.” Galen smiled wryly. “When Gruber told me I was a vampire, I thought it was a sick joke.” He looked down at the table. “Gruber had to shove the blood down my throat with a funnel because I wouldn't drink it. I watched my hands fill out right before my eyes.” He looked up and his expression was very neutral. “When I finally got out, I bought a hamburger and that clinched it for me. I can't eat solid food at all.” He lifted the glass of dark beer. “I'm okay with liquids, but...” he smiled wryly. “It's weird, I can taste things just fine. I just can't put them in my stomach."
Sam winced. “That has got to suck.” He looked down at the lamb on his plate. “Other than being short-tempered and furry on occasion, I'm fine."
Sygni grinned. “You just have to watch out for road rage."