by Alex Steele
She nodded. "Sort of. The person we need to speak with is actually way out in Kosuge, so it'll be easier to drive." She turned back to Billy and held out her hand. "Keys?"
He smiled and tossed them over to me.
I caught them easily and gave him a big grin. "I knew I liked you for a reason."
Swift sighed dramatically and crossed her arms. "The things I put up with."
“Thanks again, Billy. Stay safe.”
“You too,” Billy said with a wave goodbye.
I followed Swift back up to level four where we could catch the Rune Rail to Tokyo. There were a few more people on this level, but they had the same fearful look about them. There was no idle chatter and everyone was walking at a faster than normal pace.
“Everyone is terrified,” Swift said quietly, looking around us with a frown.
“They probably should be.”
The Rune Rail came to a halt in front of us and the doors opened. Only three people got off, each of them hesitating at the door before exiting.
I followed Swift onto the train and found a seat nearby. The doors shut a moment later after only one other passenger joined us. I’d never seen the Tokyo train this empty. The London train I’d taken to Moira this morning had been the same way.
Leaning my head back against the wall, I let my eyes slip shut and tried to relax, but I was restless. Every moment that passed, I expected the train to shudder or jolt like it had. It creeped me out more than usual that I had no idea where we were or how the Rune Rail worked.
Someone bumped my elbow and my eyes popped open. A woman had just walked past me, but she was too far away to have bumped me. I frowned. That was odd. Maybe I’d dozed off.
“What?” Swift asked, sitting up straight as she looked around for a threat. She must be just as keyed up as I was.
“Nothing,” I said, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees. “I’m just jumpy.”
She nodded and sat back, tapping a nervous rhythm out on her legs with her fingers. After what felt like an eternity, the Rune Rail slowed to a stop and the wave of magic passed over us. Nothing felt out of place, but I couldn’t relax until the doors opened.
Swift hopped up as soon as they did and we both walked out quickly along with the other passengers.
“That always gave me the creeps, but now it’s even worse,” she muttered as we headed down toward the garage.
The car Billy had managed to get for me after I was banned from Rune Rentals was waiting for us. It still looked like a boring, black sedan, but at least it had something decent under the hood. I still had the feeling there was something about the car I was missing. As we climbed inside, I decided that when I had time, I'd have to investigate.
Safely settled in the car, I turned to my partner and narrowed my eyes at her. “Talk.”
She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t keep the smirk off her face. “So, we were talking yesterday about whether or not Fate was involved, and that got me thinking about Moira in general. Bootstrap is right, we don’t know who built it or how it was even discovered.”
“Okay,” I said, skeptical. “What exactly did you find out?”
She pulled a slip of paper out of a pocket inside her trench coat and unfolded it, looking very smug. There were two names written on it. “I found the names of the first two mages who were recorded to have worked on it.”
“Where did you find this information?”
“I did a little digging. And Bootstrap got me their addresses.”
I closed my eyes and let my head fall back against the seat. “He’s never going to shut up about those conspiracy theories now.”
“He shouldn’t if they’re true.”
Sighing, I gave her an apathetic look. “Yesterday he told me the reason the Rune Rail didn’t have windows, was because it goes through hell and they don’t want us to know.”
Swift fought back a grin. “He could be right.”
I grabbed the slip of paper and tapped the address into the navigation system. "Just for the record, this is a bad idea."
"You're just jealous you didn't think of it first."
Thirteen
Kosuge is a village about an hour and a half northwest of Tokyo. It's small enough that there are probably more goats than people.
The mountains in this area are covered by a lush, green forest. The narrow road that leads into the village takes a winding path to get there. A heavy fog had settled over the peaks of the mountains around us, casting the whole area in gloom. It was eerie but beautiful.
“What do you know about this guy we’re going to see?” I asked as I slowed for a particularly sharp turn. We were about five minutes away now, and I was ready to be out of the car. I hated long drives unless I was on my motorcycle.
“Woman, actually,” Swift corrected. “Masako Yamashita is a runetech expert, magical researcher, and now, a hermit.”
I raised an eyebrow. “A hermit?”
Swift nodded. “Ten years ago, she moved out of Moira and cut off all contact with the outside world, except for ordering take out twice a week, which is how Bootstrap tracked her down. He said she also uses various chat rooms on occasion but he hasn’t actually managed to figure out who she’s talking to, or why.”
“She was working for the Mage’s Guild, right?”
“Yes, but her job title is confidential. I dug up something that referred to her as the Head of Theoretical Development, but I have no idea what her job duties included.” Swift pulled out her phone and checked a message. “Bootstrap said she ordered takeout twenty minutes ago. I think we’ll just beat them.”
I glanced in the rearview mirror. “Was it a soba noodle shop?”
“Yeah, why?” Swift asked, looking up in surprise.
“They’re behind us. That’ll make it easier to get in.”
“Perfect.”
I turned down Yamashito’s narrow driveway. Her house was set back from the road, and hidden completely by the trees. There wasn’t much space to park, so I stopped directly behind her small car, leaving the delivery driver stuck in the driveway itself.
I climbed out of the car and headed toward the driver, who was climbing out with the food.
“Excuse me,” I said, speaking quietly in Japanese and pulling some cash from inside my jacket. “Yamashito is an old friend I’ve come to surprise. May I take her food in?”
The driver looked at the cash in my hand, then at the pleasant smile on my face. He hesitated, but gave a quick bow and handed me the food. “Yes, of course.”
“Thank you,” I said, handing him the tip. Tip definitely sounded better than bribe.
Swift waited for me by the car, then walked with me to the front door.
I knocked twice, then in Japanese shouted, “Food delivery.”
“I hope she doesn’t slam the door in our faces,” Swift said quietly.
“Try to be charming.”
The door opened and I held out the food with a smile. Masako Yamashita was a tall, stately woman. Her hair was pulled back in a loose bun and she had a robe pulled tightly around her, but still looked put together.
“Who the hell are you?” she demanded, speaking in perfect, unaccented English.
“I’m Lexi Swift,” my partner said, stepping forward with a smile. “I’m a huge fan of your work on the development of magical artifacts in the late eighteenth century.”
Yamashita narrowed her eyes and her grip on the door tightened like she was considering slamming it in our faces. “That doesn’t explain what the fuck you’re doing on my porch.”
I sighed and decided to try being honest. “Moira.”
She slammed the door in our faces.
Fourteen
Swift banged on the door for the tenth time in the last fifteen minutes. “We’re not going to leave until you talk to us!”
I balanced the food on my knee and peeked inside. It smelled amazing. “I think you might be making it worse.”
Swift glared at me. “You could be helping –– do
not eat her food!”
I sighed and shoved the food back in the bag. “You’re the people person.”
“How on earth did you get anything done before me?”
“I would have kicked down the door by now.”
She eyed the door, her eyes sparking slightly with magic.
“I was kiddi––”
She lifted her foot and planted it right in the middle of the door. There was a sharp crack, but it wasn’t the wood. It was the wards.
Magic bowed out from the side of the house and tossed Swift backward. She twisted mid-air and managed to land on her feet, looking more angry than hurt.
I jumped up, almost dumping the food on the ground as she stomped back up to the front door.
“Masako Yamashita! Over four hundred people are dead! If you know something that can help us stop this from happening again, and don’t, their blood is on your hands!” Swift shouted, banging on the door once with her fist to emphasize her point.
The door finally opened, and Yamashita stood in the doorway, now wearing clothes, and looking pissed. “What is wrong with you people?”
I held out her food. “Like my partner said, four hundred people were slaughtered in Moira, at the Rune Rails. A place where they should be perfectly safe. We want answers.”
Yamashita yanked the food out of my hand. “I know what happened, but I did not orchestrate the attack. What do you want?”
“Do you know who did?” I pressed.
She looked away.
“A valkyrie was killed,” Swift said.
That got Yamashita’s attention. Her eyes flew to Swift and her face paled. “Are you sure?”
“I saw the body myself before another valkyrie came and retrieved it,” I said.
Her hand tightened on the bag and she sighed deeply. “Fine, come in.”
Swift looked surprised, but hurried after her into the house. I followed, shutting the door behind us. The wards slid back into place.
The house was small and neat like most Japanese homes. We slipped our shoes off at the door then walked down a narrow hallway that led to a sitting room. The far wall had large windows that overlooked a small garden. Beyond the garden was a small yard that sloped upward before fading into the dense forest. It was a pretty view but made the house feel even more secluded.
Yamashita dropped the food on a low table in the center of the room, then turned toward us and crossed her arms. “Tell me about this valkyrie you saw.”
“When I got off the Rune Rail, the platform was on fire. All the previous passengers were dead. There was a large, blackened circle on the ground, and laying in it was a valkyrie. She was alone, so I ran over and checked her pulse, and discovered she was dead,” I explained, remembering how cold the valkyrie’s pale skin had been.
Yamashita frowned and tapped her fingers against her arm. “I didn’t hear anything about it. I may not work for the Mage’s Guild anymore, but I do still hear important things like a valkyrie being killed.”
I scratched the back of my head. “I didn’t tell the Mage’s Guild, or anyone actually.”
She barked out a laugh, surprising me. “Maybe you aren’t as stupid as you look. Would the two of you like some tea?”
She didn’t wait for a response before heading toward the kitchen, leaving Swift and I standing shell-shocked in the sitting room.
Swift leaned in. “This feels too easy.”
“You spent fifteen minutes beating down her door. What part of that was easy?”
She shrugged, the suspicion never leaving her face.
Yamashita came back carrying a tray with three cups and a steaming pot of tea. “Have a seat,” she said, nodding toward the table.
I complied, sitting formally with my legs tucked under me. This would be uncomfortable in a few minutes but this seemed like a situation to pay attention to the formalities. Unlike the tea we had with the High Chancellor and Lady Swift, I wasn’t actually trying to piss Yamashita off.
Our host knelt down and poured three cups of tea with careful precision, handing them to each of us in turn.
“Do you know what I did for the Mage's Guild?” Yamashita asked as she arranged herself on the other side of the table.
Swift, who was adjusting her knees with a pinched expression shrugged. “I know your job title, but it doesn't say much about what you actually did.”
A faint smile appeared on Yamashita's lips. “We know very little about magic, despite being born with magic inside of us. My job, was to study magic itself. We searched for the origin of magic, and as part of our research, studied things like Moira.”
I took a sip of my tea. It was perfectly brewed without even a hint of bitter aftertaste. “Did you find the origin of magic?”
Yamashita shook her head. “No, nor did we find out how Moira was created.”
“Did you figure anything out?” I asked bluntly.
Yamashita picked up her cup and took a drink, her eyes straying toward the window. “Yes. We discovered that we were arrogant.” She set her cup down abruptly and shook her head. “Mages like to think of ourselves as the most powerful beings in the universe, but we’re not.”
“What makes you say that?” Swift asked, leaning forward and looking intently at the woman across from us. I had a feeling we were thinking the same thing, and that we both wanted Yamashita to say it first.
“I met a god.” She looked straight at me as if she knew that I had too. “You don’t look surprised.”
“I’m not,” I admitted. “Which one?”
She nodded as if we had passed some sort of test. "The one I met goes by many names, I think they all do."
Annoyance passed over Swift's face at her deflection. "Did it want something from you?"
Yamashita shrugged. "I'm not sure. Our conversation felt more like a warning. Whatever Moira is, it's theirs. We're just living in it."
"Do you know who the valkyrie work for? Or why they're in Moira?" I asked.
She tapped her long, delicate fingers against the table. "I believe they protect it because it belongs to them. I think they live there as well, or did. You've seen the Edge, the darkness out there. Do you really think it's empty?"
Her question made my gut twist with fear. There was something about the Edge that was unsettling, perhaps because deep down, we were scared it wasn't empty. That the darkness held monsters.
We never should have relied on the valkyrie to keep us safe. We just accepted this strange city, unknown magic, and unseen security force without question.
"Who built the Rune Rail?" Swift asked. "That didn't just appear out of nowhere, and it's upgraded often."
"We did, not me specifically, but mages that worked with my team. They're all bound with a geas that would kill them if they were to divulge any secrets about the Rune Rail." She tugged down the collar of her shirt, showing us a small, black triangle with a rune in the center I'd never seen before tattooed beneath her collarbone. "Even now, I cannot say anything more about it, and I didn't even work on the project myself."
Swift pulled out her notebook and drew the tattoo in it. "Do you have any idea which god is behind these attacks?"
Yamashita shook her head. "It could be any of them. I don't even know how many there are, but from what I've seen, they fight amongst themselves. The attack on Moira is a bold move, they seem to prefer that none of us know they exist for some reason."
I drained the last of my tea and set the cup down, feeling suddenly very tired. "Why did you leave the Mage's Guild?"
Her gaze returned to the window as the same exhaustion I felt was reflected on her face. "Sometimes I think our long lives are a curse. We have too much time to do terrible things." She turned back to us. "You should go. I never should have invited you in."
"We need your help––"
She shook her head, cutting Swift off. "I can't help you. I'm sorry. Please go."
I wanted to argue, but we couldn't force this woman to talk to us, especially when we weren't even suppo
sed to be investigating this in the first place. We also needed to go talk to the other person Swift had tracked down. I wanted to know if they'd spoken to a god as well.
With a sigh, I stood, pulling my card out of my pocket. I scribbled the address to the Manor on the back. "If you think of anything else, please contact us."
She took it and tucked it into her pocket. "I will."
Swift followed me reluctantly toward the door. She was silent until we got back in the car.
"She's not telling us everything."
"I know," I agreed with a sigh. "I'm surprised she talked to us at all."
"Do you think Fate was the god she met?"
"Yes." If her conversations with Fate had gone anything like mine, I couldn't blame her for being afraid. I glanced at Swift out of the corner of my eye, the memory of her lying dead at my feet sweeping over me. Forcing my eyes back to the road, I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. I wouldn't let that happen. “Where to next?”
“Back to London. We’re going to talk with Henry Patterson, he worked with Yamashita,” Swift said.
“Hopefully he doesn’t slam the door in our faces.”
Swift snorted. “Don’t get your hopes up. He’s even more reclusive than she is. Bootstrap isn’t positive the man actually lives at the address he tracked down.”
I shook my head. “Something really bad must have happened to make them all go underground like this.”
“Like I said, Yamashita isn’t telling us everything.”
Fifteen
Patterson lived in the middle of a small town outside of London. His flat was under a different name, but Bootstrap insisted it traced back to the former Mage's Guild employee.
Both of these mages had held powerful, well-paying positions. Whatever had made them quit and do their best to disappear had to be big. Yamashita didn’t seem like some kind of paranoid, conspiracy theorist. She seemed afraid. Patterson likely had the same reasons for trying to disappear.
His flat was a fifth-floor walkup. The stairs were rickety and as dingy as the old building itself. There weren't many places this rundown left since runetech was used to spruce most buildings up and keep them from falling apart. Whoever owned these flats was either cheap or suspicious of magic. Some prosaics disliked it despite everything it did to help.