by JM Guillen
It felt as if we might be the only two people in the world.
“It’s a little overwhelming,” I said and pushed myself up against the headboard, “to think all of this went on all around me as I grew up.”
“Believe it or not, choice is a very important thing to a man like Simon.”
“Oh I believe it,” I chuckled. “Simon always wanted to make certain his options were all open.”
“That isn’t exactly what I mean,” Alicia said. “Simon often spoke about the difficulty of this task. On one hand he very much wanted to associate with you, Liz. Rusiel had shared with him how strong your Grace might be, and Simon wanted to be your mentor.”
“I can see that. I mean, it seems like he spent years setting up the situation.”
“Well, he did and he didn’t. Simon is not a man of straight lines. It’s fair to say he used some amount of cleverness to make certain he could be present when your Grace began to unfurl.”
“Uh-huh.” I didn’t see where she was going.
“Yet, I can state with certainty that he did not manipulate your choice to become his student.” Alicia adjusted herself on the bed. “You saw he didn’t have too much of a problem doing that sort of thing to your father, yet when it came to your scholarship he played you square.”
“I mean, as far as I know he did.”
“No, as far as Abriel knows, he did. It was very important to Simon that you make your own choices, that he not coerce you into being his student.”
“Yeah?” I mulled the thought over. “Why is that?”
“By that time in his life, Simon had seen a lot. It’s not uncommon for someone to find a young person with a burgeoning talent, then abuse them. He never wanted that. So he told your father the truth.”
“That’s where crazy cultists come from.” I shuddered. “People like me who went down the wrong road.” As I thought about it, I couldn’t help but remember the words of my personal Silent Gentleman.
“Maybe the folks you’re involved with have good intentions.” It rubbed its hand across the nape of its neck. “Maybe I’ve just seen too many human sacrifices, too many promising young people exchanged to nameless horrors.
I shuddered.
“Well, it’s a great story. Knowing what I know now enlightens me some…” I shrugged.
“Yet not completely.”
“Well, I understand where Dad’s mystery money came from. I know why there’s a freaking war room in his attic hidden behind some kind of illusion.”
“That glamour has ended,” Alicia informed me. “Simon created that seeming to protect the attic from any who might stumble upon it. However, as soon as Abriel’s light shone, the magic was dispelled.”
“And Mr. Serin told me I needed to come here. He told me if I spent time with these books, I would understand more about what went on here.” I quirked up one eyebrow. “Although, I assume I can just ask Abriel what these books are?”
“Many of them are old records, accounts of strange or uncanny events. Other tomes discuss various kinds of magical creation or artificery.”
“So, stuff a person like Simon could learn from. I mean, someone without a knack… Grace.”
“Correct.” Alicia gazed toward the shelves “Simon arranged these things very specifically, and made certain to show Abriel where each of them went. In this way, you can simply ask for a book on a particular topic.”
“That’s handy.” I frowned. “But none of this solves my problem with Mister fucking Lorne.” I pointed at her, and mouthed the word the moment she said it.
“Language.”
“He’s not gonna stop. He’s already proven he’ll come after my friends just to get me.” I shook my head. “Hell, for all I know, he’s got Dad. That would explain where the old man’s gone.”
“What about Simon?” Alicia stood and stretched. “Didn’t you say he went to investigate that situation?”
“Sure.” I sighed. “But I expected him back days ago. Like, I expected him to be back before I fell asleep for sixty-some hours.”
“That’s…” Alicia furrowed her brow. “That is troubling. What are you going to do?”
“Well, I’m not supposed to do anything other than sit still and,” I made the air quotes with my hands, “Play games with my little friends.”
“That doesn’t seem like the wisest choice.”
“No, it doesn’t. Every time Lorne sends another one of his Billy Goats Gruff, it’s a little bit bigger. A little bit stronger.” I gnawed at my lip as I thought.
“Abriel points out that even though Simon is not a man of straight lines, he is quite precise with his speech. Whenever he and Aiden took on a project together, he insisted upon being specific about time frames and when he would return.”
“Yeah.” I felt my stomach sink down to somewhere around my shoes. “I think we’re going to have to do something.”
For long moment we sat in the silence of the attic. Then a slow grin dawned on my face.
“We’re going to play to our strengths.”
“And how is that?”
“I need to take a shower.” I made a show of sniffing myself. “Or to clean up at the bathroom sink.” The lack of a shower was not something I’d thought much about until now.
“Okay, I assume you don’t need any help with that.”
“No, here’s what I do need though. Call the guys. Have Rehl pick up Baxter and meet us over here.”
“You don’t think they might be busy?”
“Rehl is officially my hireling.” I held my nose in the air, snootily. “He has to do what I say.”
“And Baxter?” Alicia queried.
“Tell Baxter there’s going to be pizza. Pizza and planning.”
“Our strengths are pizza and planning?” Green sparks glinted in her eyes.
“Yes. Well, no, but if we’re going to go on an adventure, we have to play by the rules. Especially rule one.”
“Which is?”
“Rule one, Alicia.” I gave her a roguish grin “Always keep the party together.”
Battlemap
Due to evening New York traffic, it took Rehl almost an hour to get Baxter over to the shop. Fine by me as I almost felt like a person who had engaged in a horrific battle against spider monsters, and then not properly bathed for two days.
It also gave me time to think.
By the time the guys came upstairs, I was clean, dressed, and ready to go. I also wore my motorcycle jacket so I could hide a couple of my knives.
Along with a little something else.
“What’s your choice on pizza, Bax?” I asked as they walked over to where I sat at the desk. I tried, very hard, not to see the stiches on the side of his face.
“My choice is to be able to enjoy pizza without being assaulted by otherworldly aberrations.” He gave me a sideways grin.
“Assume we’ve defeated all of those,” I chuckled back. “Where am I treating us to tonight?”
“Probably Leone’s.” Rehl glanced from Baxter to Alicia. “It’s good stuff, but it’s a little bit of a drive.”
“I’m good with a drive.” I gave Rehl a smile. “We need the time this evening. We’ve got some talking to do.”
“Yeah?” Rehl raised one eyebrow. “Is this about our extracurricular activities?”
“No.” I gazed at him, completely serious. “This is about monster hunting.”
2
Rehl drove a white 1993 Dodge Dynasty, which was about the least sexy car a person could own. As we got in, I remembered Mr. Serin mention my ability to buy a company car.
That might be a good idea.
“So. Monster hunting?” Baxter cut right to the point.
“Well, probably not tonight. But I find myself a bit overwhelmed with info dump. I hoped my boon and stalwart companions might help me make sense of things.”
“Christ.” Baxter sank back in his seat. “Now you sound like Aiden.”
“Our new friend Abriel just spent a couple
of hours catching me up on the secret mysteries of my own life.” I raised one eyebrow at Baxter. “Since it seems as if I’ve made an enemy that doesn’t mind hurting my friends, I thought perhaps we should share all of the in-game information.”
“That’s not dumb.” Rehl nodded. “We’re going to fight traffic for a little while anyway. If there was a time for you to go all exposition-y on us, then I suppose this is it.”
So I told them. As we drove through a labyrinth of traffic, as autumn rain started to patter against the windows, I told them everything I had learned upon awakening. I shared the story of my father’s relationship with Simon and how they had formed a secret friendship right under my nose.
“That’s not creepy or anything.” Baxter cleaned his glasses. “Like you were a little kid and he had designs upon you.”
“Designs.” I rolled the word around on my lips. “That does make it seem diabolical.”
“Here we are.” Rehl pulled into a small parallel parking space with ease. “Is there any part of the story you don’t feel comfortable telling inside of a busy pizza parlor?”
“Naw.” I grinned. “Anybody who hears me won’t believe me anyway.”
I let the story rest as we left the car and laughed as we ran inside through the rain. Just before I got to the awning in front of the restaurant, Baxter pushed me from the side and I stepped into a puddle.
“Jerk!” I laughed and kicked the water at him.
For a moment, everything was normal. No otherworldly creature hunted me. My friends were safe. The world wasn’t falling down around our ears.
It felt nice, just for a moment.
3
We were seated toward the back, which seemed just about perfect. We got one of the large round booths that had more than enough room for all of us. Baxter not so subtly stole a shaker of Parmesan cheese from the table next to us, and we settled in as we got our sodas.
“Thing is, I’m being a little bit of a hypocrite.” I stirred the straw in my drink and did not look up at my friends.
“Yeah?” Baxter glanced behind me as the waitress brought our two pizzas.
We chatted amicably with the woman for a moment before we took our share of the spoils and chowed down.
“Well, we talked about Simon. We talked about how sometimes it seems as if he’s a little bit sneaky. He hides stuff from us, from me specifically.”
“I feel like he’s not completely upfront with you.” Rehl took a huge bite.
“That’s why I feel like a hypocrite.” I gave him a sheepish grin. “There’s stuff you guys don’t know. I don’t just mean secret history or magical powers. I mean there’s stuff that’s happened in the past few days I haven’t shared with you.”
“We’ve been pretty busy.” Baxter dumped a metric ton of Parmesan cheese on his pepperoni.
“Maybe so. But it’s stuff that matters. Buckle in, and don’t eat all the pizza while I talk.”
“No promises.” Baxter grinned.
I started to talk about how I had initially met Mister Lorne, and the deal I made for my mother. It hadn’t occurred to me, but my friends didn’t really know all the details behind why Mr. Gaunt And Ugly chased me.
No, they had just stood with me. The way friends do.
Once done with that, I segued to my encounter with Garret in the hotel room. With all that had gone on, I hadn’t told a single person about my encounter with the Silent Gentlemen. After I finished, my audience sat stunned, eyes wide.
“Is that why you were such a sulky little bint in the anime room?” Baxter had actually stopped eating long enough to ask a question. “Because one of those… those things Simon taught you about showed up in your hotel room?”
“Elizabeth.” Alicia ‘s tone sounded very far away. “Did you talk about this with Simon? At all?”
“No.” I winced. “I meant to. I really did. Things just got away from us.”
“He would be furious.” Alicia didn’t even glance at me, just stared off into space. “If he knew one of them had come chasing you…”
“I know. And, good news, that’s not all.” I gave her a winsome smile. “Do you remember me telling you I had used the Aegis on my wrist, the night before the Houndsman and his creepy cadre got in? I had pushed myself?”
“I do.” Her tone almost chilled the pizza-scented air.
“Well, let me tell you about that night.”
I did, doing everything I could to be as specific as possible. I discussed the crazy chase through the alleyways, and the crossbow man who could summon gates of warbling flame. By the time I got done, Baxter held his head in his hands.
“That’s why you were late. That’s why when I came to look at your computers, you were fast asleep.”
“Yup.” I took a bite of pizza.
“So is that it?” Rehl shook red pepper flakes onto his pizza, a habit I found almost blasphemous. “Is that all the super-secret stuff?”
“I think so.” I nodded, took another bite, and thought. “Well, there was my meeting with Serin. Oh, and the things my dad left me.” I pointed at Alicia. “You know all about that one, but I’ll brush over it again.”
So I spoke about my session with the attorney and how flabbergasted I had been once he revealed my change of fortune. I talked about how I discovered my father’s diary and the odd little puzzle box that, eventually, Alicia had opened.
“And that’s it. At least, I can’t think of anything else, anyway.”
“Yeah, well.” Baxter stared down at the table and did not meet anyone’s gaze.
“What?” Alicia ducked her head down in an attempt to see Baxter’s face.
“Maybe that’s not quite it.” He glanced up and gave me a somewhat sickly smile.
“Baxter?” I cocked my head at him. “You have secrets to add? Have you been running around fighting evil without us?”
“Not exactly fighting evil.” He sighed. “But I might have a thing or two to add.”
“Well I never would’ve guessed.” I sat back in my chair and folded my arms. “Here you are, stealing all the thunder from my secret stories.”
“No, I’m still pretty sure this is your story.” He took a quick bite of pizza. “I just think it might be a part you don’t know yet.”
“Well let’s hear it.” I grabbed the shaker of Parmesan. “I look forward to someone else doing the talking so that I can actually eat.”
4
“Alicia already told you we took turns watching over you while you played Sleeping Beauty. Abriel told Alicia you were simply exhausted, but no one knew how long you’d be out for,” Baxter began.
“Right.” I chewed and luxuriated in sensuous, cheesy wonder. My mouth was in heaven. There’s nothing in all the world like a properly done New York style pizza.
“Well remember, I was the first person in the attic, besides you. We went up there together, and I dug through some of those old books that seemed like they held nothing but boredom and useless numbers.”
“Right.” I turned to Alicia. “Illusion which Abriel tells us is now dismissed, once and for all.” I shrugged. “Unless Simon returns and we decide to lay down a glamour hammer on the attic again.”
“Well,” Baxter continued, “I sat up there for hours. Up there in the creepy attic with the sleeping girl, and nothing to do.”
“You should’ve gone downstairs.” I took a sip of my soda. “You know how many gaming books I have to thumb through?”
“I considered doing exactly that, as it happened. I sat at your desk and spun around in that rolley chair for a while before I thought maybe I should step down to the shop and get something to read.” He paused, took a quick bite, and kept talking with his mouth full. “Then I saw the books sitting on the desk.”
“I’d been reading when Alicia ran into the shop,” I explained. “You probably saw the puzzle box there too.”
“I did.” He took a drink. “I also saw a book that I didn’t think you were reading. A small leather journal.” He paus
ed. “Written in Slieteri.”
I stopped in mid-chew.
“That was my dad’s journal.”
“I thought it might be some kind of gaming supplement,” Baxter hedged. “I mean, in what world could I possibly guess your dad would use the language of his snow elves to send you secret messages?”
“I can see that.” I spoke slowly, but, in fact, my mind raced. My father’s journal had slipped through the cracks, with everything else that’d gone on. I’d meant to pay attention to it later, but I’d never found the time.
“Of course, after just a few minutes I realized it in no way had anything to do with gaming.”
“I’m just amazed you can read the thing in ‘a few minutes’.” I shook my head. “You always were better with that stuff than me.”
“I honestly didn’t mean to snoop!” Baxter cringed a little bit. “I hope you know that.”
“At this point I don’t care.” I gestured with the piece of pizza I held. “This is where the party shares all their information. Spill.”
“Well, as you’ve said, Simon was occasionally a little less than honest with your dad.”
“That’s a kind way to put it,” Rehl muttered.
“Simon never engaged in any activity that would hurt Aiden.” Alicia gazed around the table, the edge of a glow circling her hazel eyes. “Even if he is a man who tends to talk around corners.”
“So in the same way Simon used…” Baxter gestured aimlessly at Alicia, “Watchers or whatever, to record things that mattered to him, your father decided he would keep a record of his own. Just stuff that happened when, say, Simon was off in Syracuse training his wayward apprentice.”
“That one little book?”
“Maybe,” Baxter hedged. “Even though I haven’t found them or even looked, I got the feeling there might be more than one of those books up there, written by your dad.”
“Well, that would make sense.” I frowned. “Although I don’t look forward to translating them.”
“The journal talks about a woman he met. Not anything romantic, but a woman in the kind of trouble that Simon and Aiden tried to help with.”