Montague & Strong Detective Novels Box Set: Montague & Strong Detective Novels Books, 1 through 3 (Montague & Strong Case Files)

by Orlando A. Sanchez

  “What did he say?” Monty asked, glancing at Peaches. “Wait, let me guess—he’s hungry?”

  “Hilarious,” I snapped as a wave of pain crested in my throbbing leg. “He won’t go and we’re wasting time. I need this arrow out of my leg…now.”

  “Probably for the best—I don’t have any stray cows lying about to feed it, in any case,” Roxanne said as she dialed a number. “I’ll get the wing cleared. You make sure you lot come back to me intact.”

  She went down the corridor and disappeared around a corner. We walked past the doors and headed into the Morphology wing. The hallways were deserted as we approached the main MRI room.

  “Do you remember the code?” I asked him as we stood looking at the panel for the palm print. He gave me a withering look and placed a palm on the smooth surface. It scanned his hand and went blank. A second later, a keypad appeared on the screen.

  “Of course I remember the code,” he said, punching in the numbers. “It was only nine digits—child’s play.”

  “Who are the Smiths?” I asked as the locks disengaged and the panel flashed a message of runes. Monty pressed a green circle and the panel went dark. A few seconds later the door hissed opened. The immense room was brightly lit, with the MRI scanner dominating the center of the floor.

  “Let’s get that arrow removed first,” Monty said as we stepped inside the room. “Then we can focus on why they want your vampire and these dark blades.”

  The machine resembled a typical MRI machine except that it was about five times larger and covered in runes. The machine was surrounded on three sides by three-inch Lexan, also inscribed with runes. In this case, MRI stood for morphological runic imagery. There was another pad to the side of the door and Monty repeated the process to lock it from the inside.

  “That is one big machine,” I said, admiring the sheer size of the scanner. The runes on its surface danced and shifted, changing colors as they moved. “Any reason why they just can’t use a normal MRI machine and not this industrial-sized monster?”

  “People and beings who wield magic can’t be scanned with magnetic resonance,” Monty said, pulling out the oversized platform for me to lie down on. “Their bodies give off too much runic ‘noise’ to be read properly. This machine essentially uses magic to read a magic-user.”

  “You told Roxanne you had never removed an arrow in this manner,” I said as I slid onto the platform gingerly, keeping my leg elevated to avoid hitting the arrow. “How do you usually deal with a blood arrow?”

  “During the war, a variation of these arrows was used. We employed a specific strategy called the ‘pull and shove’ to remove them,” Monty said and turned on the MRI scanner. “Pull the arrow out, use a blast of air to shove them back, watch them explode. It was very efficient.”

  “I thought it was only the arrow that exploded?”

  He shook his head slowly. “Once these runes come in contact with blood, they convert the blood around the wound into a liquid explosive similar to nitromethane,” he said, tracing runes around the arrow and my leg. “Pulling out the arrow is similar to lighting a fuse.”

  “Can we not use that method? What the hell, Monty?”

  “It was war,” he whispered as he strapped my leg down. “They were enemy combatants and we didn’t have time for niceties. Evils can be created much quicker than they can be cured. Things like this are why I left the Sanctuary.”

  “Those who could win a war could rarely make a good peace,” I said, bracing myself. “I’m glad you’re working on the peace part.”

  “Are you ready?” he asked and gave me a tight smile. “Tell your creat—Peaches—to move back, if you can.”

  Peaches padded back behind one of the large Lexan screens to one side of the MRI scanner.

  “Good boy,” I said and gritted my teeth against a wave of pain and nausea as Monty grabbed my leg. “Monty, don’t blow me up.”

  SIXTEEN

  MONTY NARROWED HIS eyes as he examined the arrow. I was going to ask him if he needed spectacles or whatever mages called glasses. It seemed his vision was going since I was noticing a lot of squinting lately. I figured this wasn’t the time to bring up his failing vision or distract him so I made a mental note to bring it up later.

  He gestured with his hand and I saw black tendrils encircle the arrow and my leg. The tendrils snaked around the wound and entered my skin. Sweat formed on Monty’s brow as he traced more runes.

  I let out a long breath against the pain and clenched my fists around the platform. “That looks like Negomancy,” I said with a hiss as the pain increased. It felt like Monty had jammed a hot poker into my thigh and decided to wiggle it around. “That—isn’t feeling good. In fact it’s feeling pretty damn—”

  Monty wiped the sweat from his eyes. “It doesn’t get better—not yet, at least,” he said quickly without taking his eyes off the arrow. “Shut it and let me concentrate. I would rather stop the unstable explosion before it obliterates us.”

  “Before is a good plan. I like before.”

  He gave me a short nod. “You have to remain still now,” he said. “I’m going to remove the arrow and the pain will be magnified.”

  “Wonderful,” I replied, clenching my teeth. “More pain.”

  “It will feel like your blood is on fire,” he added, grabbing the arrow. “Resist the urge to move or squirm or this will get messy.”

  “Got it,” I answered, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. “Go for it.”

  He pulled out the arrow and it felt like my body exploded in flame as I screamed. I opened my eyes, expecting to be engulfed in flames, and reflexively reached for my mark—the endless knot inscribed on the back of my left hand that allowed me to stop time for ten seconds. It bound me to Karma and occasionally she made an appearance when I used it. Right now, I just wanted the pain and burning to stop.

  Monty grabbed my hand and stopped me, shaking his head.

  “We have to let it run its course,” he said, strapping my arm down. “Your body’s healing should take over now.”

  The burning sensations radiated outward from my leg and covered my entire body. It felt like being shoved in a sauna with a setting of ‘surface of the sun’ as the ambient temperature. I looked down at my leg and expected to see the skin melting away from my body.

  After what felt like a lifetime, but was closer to thirty seconds, the burning and pain started to subside. “I’m feeling better,” I said with a gasp and put my head back against the platform. “The burning is almost gone.”

  “We may have a problem,” Monty whispered, and the platform trembled. “The arrow is still active.”

  An orange orb of energy floated in front of him. Inside the orb, I could make out the arrow. The runes along the shaft were bright red and pulsing.

  I slid off the platform. “What do you mean it’s still active?” I moved to the side, giving the orb and Monty a wide berth. “I thought you said it was the blood that exploded?”

  “It would seem, in this case, they expected us to attempt a removal and planned for this contingency,” Monty said as he backed away with the orb in front of him.

  “Can you contain it?”

  He shot me a look. ”What do you think I’m presently doing?” he said. I could hear the strain in his voice. “If I remove the orb, it explodes.”

  “How about the MRI machine?” I said, looking at the giant scanner. “Can you put the arrow in there? It looks sturdy enough to take a small explosion.”

  Monty looked from the machine to me and gave me a slight nod. “Every so often the functioning of your brain surprises even me,” he said and shifted the orb to place it in the MRI scanner. The orb floated lazily inside the scanner as we stepped back to the panel next to the door. “We want to be outside of the room. I have a feeling this will cause the scanner some considerable damage.”

  “You do know Roxanne is going to be pissed you blew up her machine?” I moved next to the door as he placed his hand on the panel
. “It’s probably expensive too.”

  “I’ll tell her this was your idea,” he said, punching the nine-digit code. His hand froze after he punched in the last digit and the screen flashed yellow. A string of runes raced across the top of the screen. I didn’t recognize them, but the large flashing skull-and-crossbones in the center of the panel told me something bad just happened. “That’s not good.”

  “Monty, that looks the opposite of good,” I said, looking for some place to take cover. “You punched in the wrong code, didn’t you?”

  “Oh shite,” he whispered more to himself. “I must have juxtaposed a digit.”

  The door behind us flared bright red as runes appeared on its surface. Several bolts slammed into the wall, reinforcing the locking mechanism. Red lights began to strobe above us and I could hear a klaxon going off somewhere. I felt the vibrations of blast doors slamming into place. The entire wing was quarantined.

  I turned slowly to face him. “‘Oh shite’? ‘Juxtaposed,’ really?” I asked as he began tracing runes. “How much power will the blood arrow unleash inside of the scanner? What kind of explosion are we looking at?”

  He muttered something quickly under his breath, crouched down and began tracing a semi-circle of runes on the floor in front of us. “If my recollection serves me, the explosion of the arrow is equal to about a quarter kilogram of TNT,” he said after a few seconds. “The energy output is approximately 1.2 mega joules.”

  “Your powers of recollection don’t inspire much trust at the moment.” I stared at him, shaking my head.

  “Excuse me for being bloody distracted,” he said testily. “I was only removing a volatile arrow from your leg and containing it in an orb designed to prevent it from exploding us into little bits.”

  I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry and thank you, Monty, really,” I said after a moment and then examined the door. It’s just that we’re in here and Chi is out there—somewhere.”

  He waved my words away and shook his head. “It’s not your fault,” he said, reading the runes on the door. “I should’ve paid attention.”

  “It’s not like I can shoot this door with an entropy round. It looks stronger than the MRI machine,” I said, resting a hand on Grim Whisper.

  Monty shook his head slowly as he rubbed his chin. “That door could probably stop a gang of ogres without taking a dent.”

  “What does that mean in terms of us surviving the explosion?”

  “The outlook is bleak to nil,” he said and traced more runes on the floor. “This shield should act as buffer, but I don’t like our chances even with your mala assisting the casting.”

  “Well, I feel much better now, thanks. Guess I’ll find out how immortal I am after all,” I said and grabbed Peaches, pulling him close. “Exploding to death wasn’t on my to-do list today.”

  “Unfortunately, since the arrow is in the center of the MRI scanner, the explosion will be exponentially greater, closer to five kilograms of TNT,” he said, ignoring me. He continued tracing runes and then stood, rubbing his chin again. “Wait…the entropy rounds. Give me one.” He stretched out a hand.

  I ejected the magazine and removed one of the rounds. Black energy wafted up from it as I placed it in his hand. “I don’t see how one round is going to help with an explosion that’s going to erase us.”

  “The round should act as a disruptive force, bifurcating the initial shockwave and allowing us a narrow trench of inverse runic activity,” he explained matter-of-factly. “It will require precise manipulation and alignment, but Ziller’s theorem of gravitational disruption should apply.”

  “Is this Ziller person alive?” I asked, thoroughly lost. “Because I would enjoy introducing his head to my fist.”

  “Professor Ziller resides at the Sanctuary as part of the living library,” Monty answered as he completed the semi-circular design on the floor. “If you do meet him, I would strongly advise against any physical violence. He’s an accomplished mage in his own right.”

  “Can you explain what you just said in English I can understand?”

  “Stay behind this semi-circle,” he said, looking down and gesturing over the round in his hand. Blue runes floated through the air, descending on the entropy round. “The orb will dissolve shortly and the arrow will detonate. Once the orb disappears, you activate your shield.”

  “Then what?” I pulled on the mala bracelet to have easier access to the main bead. “You just said we had little chance with a regular explosion. How are we going to make it through one ten times worse?”

  “One second,” he said, holding up his hand. “We’re running out of time. Listen.”

  At first I didn’t hear anything over the klaxons, then I caught it. It was a steady hissing.

  “Shit,” I said, grabbing Peaches and covering his nose with a sleeve. “Neurotoxins. Is that one round going to be enough?”

  “If I don’t collapse first, we should be fine.”

  I stared at him. “Oh good, I wouldn’t want you overly concerned or nervous,” I said, making sure Peaches remained still.

  “The entropy round will give us a slight chance to divert the initial crest of the explosion,” he said without looking up. The entropy round floated above his hand and rotated slowly until he aligned it to the MRI scanner and the arrow tumbling slowly in its center. “Get ready, the orb is about to fail.”

  “I’m not even going to pretend to understand what you just tried to explain—again,” I answered and grabbed hold of the mala bracelet. The sweat from my hands made the smooth wood feel slick in my fingers. “Ready.”

  I held my breath as the orb disappeared. Monty muttered something under his breath and the bullet shot off faster than if I had fired it from Grim Whisper. I looked down to make sure I was behind his semi-circle of runes before I pressed the main bead on the mala. The shield shimmered into place as the arrow exploded. There was only one problem. Monty was on the other side of the shield.

  SEVENTEEN

  I TRIED TO shift to get Monty behind the shield, but my arm was locked in place. The semi-circular design on the floor glowed with a yellow light and exerted pressure on my body, forcing me back. Peaches tried to move but couldn’t.

 

  “Me either, boy,” I said quickly and tried to push against the shield. Monty stood in front of us and placed his palms together. The shockwave of the explosion was followed by a wall of flame that rushed at us. Monty spread his hands and I seriously had a Charlton Heston flashback as the flames parted and crashed into the wall on either side of us.

  Another explosion rocked the MRI machine, reducing it to its component parts. A hole the size of the center of the scanner was blown clean through the Lexan and the wall directly behind it. Monty extended a hand behind him, gestured, and the shield dropped. I felt the tug immediately. We were being pulled into the hole. Walls of flame raged on either side of us as we slid forward. I grabbed Peaches, making sure he didn’t slide into the flames. This was worse than being caught in a riptide. At least with a riptide, there was no threat of being charbroiled.

  “Stay in the center!” Monty yelled above the roar of the flames around us. “We have a small window. Make sure you ride the runic current or you will end up in the flames. Hurry! That round won’t divert the blast forever.”

  “What? Ride the what?” I yelled back as the pull intensified. We began picking up speed. The blast furnace walls of flame made it impossible to speak. Monty pointed at me with two fingers and then back to his eyes. I nodded.

  Monty ran forward and leaped, reaffirming that mages were on the far edge of insane. Whatever current was pulling on us grabbed his body. He floated motionless for a split second before he launched through the hole. I felt a weight against my leg. I looked down to see a frozen Peaches, stiff and unmoving.

 

  I scooped him up with a grunt. “You need to cut the pastrami—for real,” I said as I followed Monty. I r
an forward, leaped in the air, and twisted my body, making sure my back was to the hole. The current caught me and I stopped moving mid-leap. I barely held on to Peaches as we shot out of the room. We landed in an unceremonious pile and crashed into beds and equipment. When I finally came to a stop, Monty was facing the hole and gesturing.

  A large sphere of yellow energy plugged the hole and he motioned for us to move to the far side of the room. He wiped the sweat from his brow and eyes. I could see a trickle of blood from his nose.

  “You’re bleeding,” I said and pointed at his face.

  “Move back,” he said, pushing me next to some toppled beds. He wiped his nose and used the blood to trace a single rune into the floor in front of the beds.

  “What?” I said, breathing hard while moving a few hospital beds into a makeshift cover. “Isn’t the explosion done?”

  I placed the unmoving Peaches on the floor behind the beds. His eyes were closed and I couldn’t tell if he was breathing. I was more concerned about my frozen hellhound than the impending explosion.

  “It will be once the entropy round is absorbed,” he said and clenched his jaw. “Bollocks, we’re too close.”

  “He’s not moving, Monty,” I said, quickly placing a hand on his chest. “I can’t tell if he’s breathing.”

  “It’s the neurotoxins,” Monty said, focusing on the yellow sphere. “He should recover now that we’re out of there.”

  The sound of distant thunder filled the room.

  “How bad is this going to be?” I asked, moving more debris between us and the hole in the wall.

  “I hope this works,” he whispered. Monty looked down and placed a hand on the blood rune. I heard him mutter some more words as the sound went from distant thunder to approaching cataclysm.

  Movement followed the change in air pressure. We both looked up at the wall with the hole. The sphere plugging the hole began to distort as the wall bulged out toward us. Monty twisted his hand on the symbol he had traced on the floor. The blood rune flared with violet energy as the wall exploded, and Monty screamed.