by Charley Case
She wondered if the marble coloring was a byproduct of the animal’s original color, or if it was just a coincidence.
“She really is beautiful,” Mila commented as they watched her devour the two pounds of meat in a few bites. “And really scary. Maybe she needs a little more to eat?”
“I’ll get a couple of steaks for her,” Finn said, pocketing the ring and walking toward the fridge. “Why don’t you give Anita a call and give her the good news? And let her know that she’ll need to come pick up her hound herself. We aren’t doing a delivery on this one.”
Chapter Fourteen
Finn dropped a couple more steaks on the ground and kicked them through the cage’s opening for the hound. It was the third time he had fed the hound in the forty-five minutes they had been waiting for Anita and her people to arrive. The poor thing must have been starving. He felt a little bad that they had waited until this morning to come, instead of coming straight over the night before.
Mila and Penny were sitting on the cot, playing one of the games Mila had on her phone, Penny pointing out moves from her shoulder. It drove Finn nuts when she did that to him, but Mila didn’t seem to mind, enjoying it as a group activity instead of thinking of Penny as backseat playing.
He leaned on the column in the middle of the cellar and watched them for a few minutes. Penny and Mila laughed at something on the screen, sharing a bond that was growing stronger as the days passed. He would feel jealous if he didn’t feel the same way about Mila that Penny evidently did. There was something special about Mila, and it was driving Finn crazy that he couldn’t tell what it was.
She had found the concealed door without even trying, which should have been nearly impossible for anyone who wasn’t a powerful magic user. Even Penny had to have it pointed out to her, and she was practically made of magic. What did that say about Mila’s potential?
“Hello? Finn? Mila? Are you down there?” Anita called down, the boards of the steps creaking as the black-haired elf slowly came down into the cellar.
Finn pushed off the column and turned to see Anita in a set of navy-blue overalls ducking under the low frame around the stairs. “Anita, good to see you.” Finn stepped across the room to shake her hand.
She reeled back as he closed the distance quickly but smiled and took his hand in greeting. “You move pretty quietly for such a big man.” She looked past him and saw Mila and Penny standing from the cot. “Dr. Winters, Penny. Good to see you again.” She turned to the hound, who was finishing off her sixth hunk of meat, finally slowing down. “Oh, my poor baby,” she crooned, showing more emotion than Finn had seen out of her yet. She knelt down beside the cage and reached a hand through a gap in the fencing.
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that…” Finn started to warn her but stopped when he saw her petting the hound without any problem. In fact, the hound closed its eyes and pushed into the petting. “Oh, well, I suppose you know what you’re doing.”
A man in a blue jumpsuit like Anita’s came down the stairs. “The truck is ready for transport, Anita.” He gave Finn a nod and went back up the stairs without further comment.
Mila let out a gasp, stepping up next to Finn, . He spun to see Anita opening the latched gate and letting the hound out. Finn immediately had Fragar out, and he was impressed when he saw Mila had done the same with Gram. She had even gone so far as to whisper the power word, letting the golden blade unfurl to its full three-foot length.
“What are you doing?” Anita shouted, stepping between them and the hound whose hackles had stood as a low growl rumbled in its chest. “Are you insane? Put those things away, or she’ll attack.”
“That’s what we’re worried about!” Finn roared, crouching in a defensive position.
“She’ll only attack you if she’s provoked. Put the weapons up. Now!” Anita insisted, blocking the hound from seeing them.
Finn and Mila exchanged looks, and after a second, both spoke the power words to their weapons, letting them fold up into their handles. As soon as the blades were put away, the hound calmed down and nudged Anita’s hand, wanting to be petted.
She let out a sigh of relief and scratched the hound’s ear. “This hound is imprinted on me. That means she’ll follow my orders, but only to a point. If she thinks I’m in danger, she’ll attack.”
“Well, that information would have been useful before you let her out of the cage,” Finn said with a deep frown.
“I thought you knew that. Didn’t we mention she was mine at the Menagerie?”
“Uh, no. That never came up.” Finn rolled his eyes. “You were in such a hurry to get back to work, you forgot to mention that.”
Anita seemed chagrined, but only a little. She pulled out a cigarette and lit it, blowing blue smoke into the air above her. “Well, sorry about that. I have to say, I’m kind of shocked that you were able to find this place so quickly. I figured it would take you three a few weeks at the least.”
Finn saw Mila frowning at the smoking elf and looking over her shoulder toward the cot and table but decided not to comment on it. Instead, he turned to Anita.
“You can let your boss know that we did our part. We’ll be over tomorrow to return the ring and talk about payment.”
Anita shrugged. “I’ll mention it if I happen to see him, but I doubt I will with taking care of this mess. He always seems to know what’s going on anyway without anyone telling him. Come on, girl,” she said, dropping her half-smoked cigarette on the ground and whistling while patting her leg.
The hound perked up and followed her out of the cellar.
Finn watched them go, then turned to Mila. “Okay, what did you just see that I missed?”
He knew she was thinking; her face was set in a half-frown, the face she always made when thinking something unpleasant.
Mila walked over and, with the hand not holding the sword, picked up the still-burning cigarette Anita had dropped and walked over to the small table. Finn followed and saw what had caught her attention.
She stubbed out the white filtered cigarette and raised an eyebrow when it was an exact match for the ones in the tray. “Something’s fishy.” Mila reached under her jacket and snapped Gram back into its holster before putting both hands on her hips. “Anita didn’t seem all that surprised by what we found here. She didn’t even mention that the hound had obviously already had its pups and that they’re gone. And you saw the way she handled her, and just walked out of here with the hound following like it was no big deal. Did you notice the pawprints on the steps? Those animals were led out of here; they didn’t break out and run away.”
“I did notice that, but I don’t know if that really implicates Anita.” He crossed his arms, thinking it all through. “Peter steals the hounds…”
“With help,” Mila interjected. “You saw the footage. He knew the parkway too well, and where to find the keys to that truck pretty quickly.”
“Most likely had some inside help,” Finn agreed. “The hound pups were born with stone skin because they happened to use the ring on the pregnant one. Preston seemed surprised by that, but Anita would have read the notes on the ring before using it, and I saw it mentioned in the ring’s paperwork. Besides, they implied that it wasn't the first time they had used the ring on a hound during pregnancy.” Finn pursed his lips in thought. “Okay, it’s not looking good for Anita, but with enough research, anyone could have found out most of that stuff. I don’t want to accuse her just because she’s a little odd and abrasive. We can mention it to Preston when we see him tomorrow and see what he thinks.”
“What about this?” Mila asked, pointing to the butts in the ashtray. “They’re the exact same brand.”
Finn gave a shrug. “Not proof, but something to keep in mind. Remember, this isn’t a movie. Not everything means something. A lot of people buy the same brands of cigarettes. Could be coincidence.”
Mila opened her mouth to argue but was distracted when her phone rang. She checked the caller ID, then answered. “Hey. You
okay?” She mouthed “Danica” to Finn.
She listened for a few seconds before her eyes went wide.
“Are you serious? How many? Holy shit... Okay, we’re on our way.” She hung up the phone and slid it into her back pocket. “Danica said twelve gang members were brought into the hospital after they were attacked by wild dogs. They’re in pretty bad shape. She also said the entire gang is made up of Selkies, whatever those are.”
“Seal people,” Finn said, turning for the stairs
Mila stayed close on his heels, Penny having to dig her claws into the leather of her jacket to stay upright.
“Seal people? How does that work?” She shook her head in confusion.
“Shir chees,” Penny informed her unhelpfully.
Finn took pity on her and translated, “They’re shapeshifters.”
“Like werewolves?”
Mila hit the lights as they made their way out to the backyard. The late morning light was blinding after the relative dark of the cellar, but after a few blinks, Finn’s eyes adjusted.
“Not exactly like werewolves. They are either seals or people, but it happens at will, not during a full moon.”
“Well, regardless, Danica said for us to hurry before the police get there and keep us from talking to them.”
Mila hit the unlock button on the Hellcat as they came out of the backyard from around the garage. She got in and started the car, but Finn stopped when he saw a black car parked on the street near where they had pulled into the dead-end road. Something about it caught his eye, and it took him a second to realize there was someone in the vehicle.
After a few seconds, the black car pulled into a driveway and turned around. It wasn’t in any hurry, and they used their blinker to turn left and drive deeper into the old neighborhood, so they weren’t trying to hide their intentions. He was wondering why the car had caught his eye in the first place when Mila rolled her window down and leaned over the center console.
“Come on. She said we only had twenty minutes or so to get there. What are you doing?”
Finn snapped out of it and climbed in. “Sorry. A car caught my eye. I don’t think it was anything to worry about, though. Let’s get out of here.”
Penny hopped off Mila’s shoulder and onto Finn’s lap as Mila reversed out of the drive and sped down the street, taking a right toward the main road.
Chapter Fifteen
Mila parked on the second level of the hospital’s attached garage so they could walk across the bridge directly into the emergency lobby. Finn followed, scanning the cars to see if he saw the black car from Peter’s house, but there were too many to pick one out. Besides, they had come here directly, and he hadn’t noticed the car following them.
Penny crawled down from his shoulder and settled into her hammock at the small of his back. He handed her the box of Charleston Chews after taking a few for himself. The sound of candies tumbling out of the box was at least muffled by his jacket.
“Danica said to tell the reception desk we’re here to see her, and they’ll page her over.” Mila glanced back, seeing that he had dropped behind. “What are you looking for?”
Finn frowned and caught up with her. “I was looking for that car I saw. I don’t know, something isn’t sitting right with me.”
“Is it here?” she asked, craning her neck to see back into the garage.
“I didn’t see it, but there are a lot of cars here.” He shrugged and continued across the bridge. “Come on, let’s get in there.”
They waited five minutes at the reception desk after the nurse paged Danica. Finn was amazed at the way Peabrains dealt with injuries. It all seemed so primitive compared to what magical healers could accomplish. He struggled to not hand out all the healing potions he had in his harness, but he knew it would throw the whole balance of the world out of sync. Wasn’t that exactly what he was trying to prevent the Dark Star from doing in the first place?
Danica came down one of the halls. “Hey, guys.” She waved for them to follow her, then led them through a set of doors into the main emergency ward. “I talked with the leader for a few minutes and knew you would want to hear about what happened. The cops are here taking a few statements, but I asked that Kevin, the leader, be saved for last. You probably have about five minutes until they get to him. Then he’s going into surgery and will be out for a day or two.”
“Why didn’t they find a healer?” Finn asked. “I mean, as Selkies, they would be part of the magical community.”
Danica sighed, stopping at a blue curtain and speaking softly. “Because most Magicals don’t have the financial means to get hold of high-grade healing potions. At least here, they can get care and financial assistance through insurance. There isn’t any insurance for magic. And if they come across some means for magical healing later down the line, then they can have their limbs grown back at that time. It’s a harsh world we live in for those without the cash.”
Finn frowned, not liking what he was hearing, but not unaccustomed to the way things worked. Even out in the universe as a whole, things still cost something.
Danica pulled back the curtain and let Mila and Finn through, closing it behind them. On the bed was a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties, with silky, brown hair and deep brown eyes. Knowing he was a shapeshifting seal made Finn think that his features were somewhat seal-like, but he didn’t know if that was a projection of his knowledge, or if the guy really did look slightly seal-like.
“Kevin,” Danica switched to the soft, but clear voice of a friendly doctor. “These are my friends I was telling you about. They’re looking for the hellhounds and trying to get them off the street. Are you feeling up to talking to them?”
Kevin cleared his throat and tried to sit up in the bed a little more. That was when Finn noticed he was missing his left arm from the elbow down. The stump had been bandaged, but there was still a little blood seeping through. The young man looked pale, but he set his jaw and nodded.
“I’m Kevin Rivers,” the Selkie said after clearing his throat again. His eyes widened a little at seeing Finn for the first time when Danica stepped to the side to check his readings on the machines beside the bed. “Are you a dwarf?”
Finn smiled and stepped closer. “I am. It’s nice to meet you; you can call me Finn. This is my friend Mila. Could you tell us what happened here?”
The direct question pushed Kevin past his shock at seeing a dwarf, and he nodded. “Yeah, my gang was having a meeting with another gang on our border.”
“I’m sorry,” Mila interrupted, “but you don’t look like you’re in a gang. Pardon me, but you look like a college student.”
Finn agreed with her assessment. Finn had come across a lot of gang members in his and Penny’s travels, and almost without exception, they had at least sported some tattoos or just had the rough look of people living a hard life. Kevin still had the fresh face of a middle-class kid, and he was their leader.
Kevin chuckled. “ ‘Gang’ is not really the best word for it. It’s just what we all call it when a group of like Magicals want to live and work together. We don’t have traditional jobs, but we pool what resources we have and open businesses or ventures together.”
“Ah, so it’s a little like a commune or something,” Mila guessed.
“A little, though that word has its own problems,” Kevin said, grimacing and clutching at his bicep above the bandage.
“Are you in a lot of pain?” Danica asked, leaning in and checking the wrappings. “I can have them up your pain meds if you need me to.”
He shook his head. “I’m fine, thanks, Doc.” He gave her a smile before continuing. “Anyway, we were meeting with an Orc gang that borders us. They have a custom motorcycle shop and wanted to expand. We had just acquired a warehouse and were meeting with them to trade it for some land they have outside of town. Me and my people have a smokehouse restaurant, and we were looking to start farming our ingredients ourselves, you know how people love that farm-to-table
stuff.
“Anyway, we all met in a neutral location near the warehouse. There were about a dozen of us from each group, and while Orcs aren’t the friendliest people, we always got along pretty well. Things were going fine for the first ten minutes or so, when out of nowhere, about twenty hellhounds come charging out from behind the building. It was unlike anything I had ever seen! I mean, I’ve seen hellhounds at the Menagerie before, but out in the open like that, they were terrifying. And I swear this is true, even though it sounds nuts, but every one of them had stone skin.”
“Actually,” Finn reassured him, “I completely believe that part. It’s one of the reasons we’re trying to find them. What happened next?”
Kevin shook his head as the events played out in his head. “At first, it was chaos. We thought the orcs had decided to just take us out. Like I said, they’re not the most upstanding people at the best of times... but then the hounds attacked them too. Blood was everywhere, screaming...it was horrible.
“After a second, the hounds stopped attacking the orcs, and they used the opportunity to run. But the things kept coming after me and my people. We did our best, but there was nothing we could do.” Tears filled his eyes, and he held back a choking sob. “Three of my people were torn apart right in front of my eyes. We couldn’t stop ‘em at first, then one of my better offensive casters caught one with a ball of fire that blasted a chunk from it. Then just as fast as they had shown up, they ran off back the way they had come. I called 911, and they brought us here.”
Mila gave him a sad smile and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”
He just nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes with his one good hand.
“Can you tell me the name of the motorcycle shop the orcs own?” Finn asked.