by Richard Amos
“Unless you’re the white eye guy,” I said. “He’s clearly immune.”
“A mystery I will solve.”
“They don’t look any different, apart from their gender—like clones. No goblins there.”
“The magic has stripped them of their race, making them blank canvases—nothing but the chanting is important.”
A flash of red and gold, a ring of magic conjured between them. It lifted and expanded to the size of the chamber in a slow rise. Then it shot off, as if a magnet somewhere had kicked into gear and pulled it away.
“Another layer to the seal,” Karla said.
“I still don’t get something about this seal. If the goddess had wanted me to come here, why not tell you about where I’d enter?”
“Because it was about you proving your worth, as I said to you.”
“So, if I was worthy, I’d get to come in?”
“Yes.”
“So, why me?”
She took a moment to answer. “That, Jake, is a question I wish I could answer.”
“I knew you were gonna say that.”
“I am sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’ll just put it down to another mystery to be solved.”
“This place,” she said, “is the most protected place in Coldharbour. Should those before you fall, then the outside world is doomed. The beasts will flood our lands, and there will be nothing we can do to stop them.”
“No back-ups on the outside, then?”
“It would be worthless. The beasts were taken by surprise when the seals first went up. Now, there is no upper-hand. Any successful attempt to undo the seal will undo everything. The human race is in the dark about supernaturals. Beasts flooding the planet would not only expose everything, but we also give them a rich playing field where we would be slaughtered and enslaved. This cannot happen.”
I turned to look at her. There was no animation in her face or in her voice. Everything about her was so cold. Maybe that was just her vibe—the aloof watcher who played her cards firmly to her chest.
“Do the beasts know about this place?”
“Come, Jake. I have one more thing to show you.”
Chapter 16
We were back in the mansion proper, heading up the main stairwell to a door on the left, which lead into a study. It had the smell of dust and rose, and all of it was amazing—bookshelves with dusty tomes, a desk with a mess of paperwork, a globe in the corner, and a head in the middle of the room.
My sparks burst to life. “What the hell?”
It sat on a table under a glass dome. Covered in pallid gray and sagging skin, topped off with wiry gray hair that needed either buzzing off or a wash in bleach, the head opened its eyes to reveal two blazing rubies of evil.
I actually yelped.
“What you looking at, pansy?”
When it spoke, it dribbled all over the place, spraying up the glass. The teeth were an ugly shade of rot.
“It talks,” I said stupidly.
“’Course I talk! I can smell your lack of brain cells from here.”
“I guess having no body attached to you makes your mouth bigger.”
Those red eyes narrowed into demonic slits. “I could rip you to pieces with my teeth, boy!”
“Jelly would break those rotten gnashers, dick head.”
“Enough,” Karla said.
“Beast, then?” I said, holding up my hands.
“Yes, and a very valuable one at that.”
“Yeah, looks a right prize.”
“Floyd, though an angry chap, has been valuable in the information he provides.”
I took a step closer. “Floyd?” His eyes went to my hands. I couldn’t help myself. “Yes, Floyd, my man. I can shut your mouth permanently and get rid of that nasty stink just by one touch.”
He growled.
“Nothing to say?”
“Jake, please,” Karla said.
“You’re gonna have to explain this one to me a bit better, Karla. You keep a beast head in your study who runs his mouth, but provides you with information. Sorry, the two aren’t sitting well together.”
“We captured Floyd and spared him the facility if he agreed to provide information on beasts. Because of him, we were able to deal with many of his brethren and have Naomi’s app sufficiently detailed.”
“Hmpf,” went Floyd. “I am in the room, you know?”
“Oh, we know,” I said.
“It is also because of him that I have learned of a priesthood operating within the beast realm. This is a very interesting development, which could lead to answers regarding beast knowledge about your coming.”
Floyd was grinning, really showing off those black teeth of his.
“What does he get in return?”
“Mice,” Karla said. “He enjoys mice.”
“Nice and fresh and raw.” Floyd licked his lips with a gray tongue.
“That’s messed up.”
“The blood feeds my magic,” he said. “The more blood I have, the more I can tell you.”
“Yeah, right. You just want the free mice.”
“Stupid small-brained creatures like yourself wouldn’t understand.”
“Yet I can lift that glass and snuff you out in a second.” I waved my hands close to the jar.
“Yes, the weapon.” He growled.
“Jake,” Karla said. “Floyd’s power relies on blood to work. Its potency was lessened dramatically when his head was taken from his body. Soul transference would restore it fully, but we cannot have that. He is too dangerous, too much of a seer to be allowed to be set free.”
“Dangerous,” Floyd said. “Remember that, boy.”
“And I am grateful for his help.”
“Isn’t all this a major betrayal of your people?” I asked.
“My people?” He laughed, a horrible gurgle coming from his mouth. “My people abandoned me to save themselves. Down by the sea, all alone, left to fight because we were done for—well and truly done for.” He spat a ball of gloop at the glass. It rolled down, leaving a trail of black. “This is my payback.”
“You really hold a grudge.”
“So would you, boy.”
Karla sat down at her desk. “We take what we can get.”
I went to stand opposite her, having a glimpse at some of the paperwork. It was all in Braille, with some scrawling handwriting too. Hers? Could she write? I didn’t know if she was born blind or if it was something that’d happened to her. And I hadn’t asked because it didn’t feel right. Those sorts of questions can come out wrong and intrusive. Damn. I needed to get out of my head. It would probably be fine. What was the problem? Wasn’t this all part of getting to know your new friends in the fight against a race of creatures that only I could kill?
“But live mice?” Yeah, I didn’t want to go down that road with all the anxiety tainting it. Getting back to thinking of Mickey Mouse being Floyd’s brunch was so much better.
Gross.
“It is what it is.”
I didn’t say anything else about it, no matter how gross it was. “Was Floyd what you wanted to show me?”
“Yes, Jake. And my study. It is good for you to be aware of the different locations in the mansion. Here is where you will find me most of the time.”
“That’s one busy desk.”
“Yes. I lost my sight when I was in my twenties,” she said.
What the hell? Was she a mind-reader? If I wasn’t sparking, I’d be chowing down on my nails. That was spooky!
“I, er—”
“A disease,” she said.
“I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago. I get by very well considering.”
“You do. It’s impressive—really impressive.”
I shuddered. Had she read my mind? God, I couldn’t handle that if she could. “Did you know I was thinking about it?” I blurted out. “It’s just that I saw the Braille and the writing and was wondering about how you—” I slammed th
e brakes on my rambling.
“Knowing you would see the Braille made me tell you. It is natural to have questions.”
“Er, yeah, I guess.”
“So now you know.”
“No mind-reading?”
She chuckled. “No, and I am glad of it, especially with all you young people living here.”
“Can’t blame you for that.”
“Indeed.”
“How boring!” Floyd protested. “Can’t you find someone entertaining to come in here for once, Karla?”
“Idiot!” I snapped.
“Oh, look at me, I’m the pretty boy with the pretty light show. Why don’t you flounce off somewhere and leave the creatures with brains in peace? We’re bored now.”
“I bet you were so popular back in your glory days.”
“Ugh!”
“Jake, I think it may be time for you to leave. I am not bored with you, but I would like to not develop a headache from listening to you both argue.”
“Toddle off, boy!”
“You remind me of a head of lettuce I once forgot about in my fridge. It was still prettier than you when I pulled it out after two months, though.”
“Stupid boy.”
I blew him a kiss. “See ya, Floyd. I’ve loved every minute.”
He closed his eyes.
“Bye, Karla.”
“Goodbye, Jake. Thank you for your time.”
“No worries.”
I left the study and bumped onto Naomi.
“Hi,” she said. “You have a meeting with Karla?”
“She was just giving me the tour.”
“By the look of your face, I’m guessing you just met Floyd.”
“Yeah.”
“Lovely guy, isn’t he?” She winked. “Don’t worry, I’m going in there now. He really hates me.”
“I think I might be a contender.”
“Impossible, babe. I’ll never lose my crown. Catch you later.”
Chapter 17
Four weeks had passed and my days of being locked away in the cliff-top mansion were at an end. It was time to get out there and face the music good and proper. I’d had some good training, pushed my body, and also got in quite a few beast kills—well, the hyena things at least as they’d kept trying to break through the wards. There were so many of the damned things! It was time for change. I needed some beast variety in my life! Plus, those dreams of the weird rock were driving me crazy. Not that going out into the city would change that.
My body buzzed with energy.
With Greg’s weapons safely inside the rucksack on the back seat of his car, the two of us set off minus Dean and Nay. He had stuff to do. Naomi had gone to her shop long before I’d come downstairs for breakfast to face another busy Monday.
These guys had handled things in the city as they had done before me. Aside from the constant flurry of hyenas, there was also the case of three dead people—murder victims with their lungs ripped out. Two men and one woman, all found in different places around the city. Dean had to work his fae magic, and a clean-up operation had taken place to remove all knowledge of the murders. Dean had said DI Williams needed some particularly intense work done on her—must be her detective brain.
The lung-eating killer was back on the prowl.
Shit.
“I think Dean likes being all mysterious,” Greg said as we made our way down the sloping road. Glad he was the driver. I couldn’t drive and had zero urge to. I was a London boy, proper city lad with no need for anything with four wheels unless it was a bus or a taxi. And even then I took the Tube. “He’s got that dangerous, dark edge to him that women go nuts for.”
He spoke the truth! “Like the detective, you think?”
“Really? You think so?”
I shrugged.
“We’ll just have to grill him,” Greg said.
“We should’ve insisted more on him coming,” I said.
“You heard him, got that mind stuff to go and do. I reckon he has a lady friend, detective or not, on the go with the rate of slipping off into the night he does. Slipping it to someone.” He snorted.
Indeed. “Can he do that to us? Is he doing it right now?” I’d never thought to ask that before now.
“Doesn’t work on the supernatural.”
That was me—a new card-carrying creature of the imagination. Pretty bloody cool seeing as I loved all that stuff—books, TV, film. Give me a paranormal tale to get stuck into any day of the week. Well, back when I could concentrate at least. I missed it bad but couldn’t get carried away by the magic anymore.
“So, you okay with that always having at least one of us with you thing, Jake?” Greg asked.
“Absolutely.” It had been established—when outside the mansion, I was not allowed to be alone under any circumstances.
“And remember you have the SOS fob. Never leave without it.” Apparently, the signal would reach my guardians’ phones the same as the rune signals—which had not as yet gone off today.
“I won’t forget.”
We came down the hill and joined the stretch of road that would become the Rainbow Mile in mere moments, the beach on the left.
Greg turned the heater up a bit. It was pretty cold. I noticed something on the floor. It was a gold bracelet.
“What’s this?” I asked, picking it up from between my feet. There were small charms hanging from it—hearts and stars.
“Ah, that’s Crystal’s. Pop it in the glove box for me?”
“Sure.”
“Cheers, mate.”
Greg had seen her once these past four weeks—last night, in fact. A few more days and it would be December.
I’d yet to meet her. She couldn’t come to the mansion, so Greg had met her at his flat—keeping up with the illusion that he actually still lived there.
“You have a good time last night?” I asked.
“Bit too much.” He chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong, sex with Crystal is always amazing. But she got a bit wild last night, proper clawed up my back.”
“Oh, shit.”
“We made so much noise.” He snorted.
“Guess it’s a sign of a good night.”
“Maybe, mate. Anyway, she’s so gorgeous. I do care about her. I know she wants more than fun, but why do we have to ruin it?”
“Is that why Naomi gets on your case?”
“Yeah. She thinks I’m gonna break Crystal’s heart. I would never do that, but I’ve been straight with her from the beginning. I don’t want to be tied down just now. Anyway, how can we be?”
Good point. “Do you see other people?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh, God, don’t join Nay’s team!”
“No, I’m not.”
“So what?”
“Look, your love life is your business. You do what makes you happy.”
“I am happy. We’re having fun.”
“Then that’s good.” Though I’m sure Crystal would have a different spin on it.
We passed the amusement arcades and restaurants of the Rainbow Mile, whizzing past and stopping at a junction. To the left was the road that led down to the abandoned beach houses. My body tingled, the desire to open the door stirring. Just down that road were those houses. A part of me wanted to see them again, to go inside and see what secrets they hid. My hand was on the door handle when the car was moving again.
Greg went straight on, heading up the hill away from the Rainbow Mile.
Coldharbour’s buildings were a quirky hodgepodge of sizes and styles. We drove past oddly-shaped terraced houses, then a group of cottages, which gave way to move terraced houses after that.
At another junction, I read the sign.
Black Cat Road to the left, leading to something called Wizard Point. To the right was Wand Towers. I looked that way, across the rising and falling slopes that made up the shape of the city. They were in the distance, tw
in tower blocks, brutalist and formidable. Reminded me of the blocks in London, high and imposing, but with a banging view from the top floor—just like I’d had from my bedroom window back when I was ten.
Greg turned right, but didn’t head in the way of the flats. Instead, he took another right which went back downhill via a one-way road.
“Sorry, mate,” he said, “pain in the arse getting round to the car park.”
Greg found a parking space in a multi-story car park around the corner from Mystique Square. Right at the bloody top. It was a busy Monday, car after car dumped in this pen for automobiles. Man, this was awful. Here they were, going about their lives, running their errands while their city was hidden away and beasts cut them down.
Even after four weeks, I was still getting to grips with how the government and that supernatural council had pulled this off. It was some feat.
We took the lift down to street level, stepping out into the cold day. Round the corner and through an archway we came into Mystique Square.
“Nay’s shop is down there.” He pointed to a little alcove to the right. There were three shops tucked away in there. Nay’s shop was called ‘Scentsational.’ I hadn’t noticed it last time I’d been here, but then I hadn’t really been in the retail therapy state of mind. Though I had some new clothes that fit me now, picked up by Greg during my being shut away, I kind of fancied doing a bit of clothes shopping myself one day. It’d been a long, long time.
“Her flat’s above it,” he said. “Like mine’s above my garage.”
“Shall we pop in?”
“Leave her to it,” he said. “She enjoys the escape. But let me show you something quick. Come look through this window.”
It was a butcher shop with meat hanging in the window.
“You see?” he said.
“See what?”
“Over there.” He pointed to the counter.
“What … oh.”
It was small, no bigger than three feet, green-skinned and standing by the butcher who wrapped up some steak. The creature had messy gray hair, and was knitting—though I couldn’t see any wool. Instead, little waves of multi-colored lights were dancing around the needles.
“That’s the weaving magic,” Greg said. “It makes all the goods in this city. There’s a goblin everywhere to make anything—money, food, even ear buds. Keeping the sweet lies rolling.”