Homecoming: An Alastair Stone Urban Fantasy Novel (Alastair Stone Chronicles Book 23)

by R. L. King

  Jason sighed. “I’m not following you. Can you dumb it down for the layman?”

  “Simple.” Stone rounded on him. “My blood was probably the catalyst that made everything work, since it hadn’t before, but whatever else he’d put into that concoction had to make a difference too. I know—don’t ask me how, but I do—that it is possible to use alchemy to increase magical potential in a child while still in the womb.”

  “Wait, what—”

  “I told you—don’t ask. It was a long time ago and most of the people involved are dead. But that’s not the point.”

  “Then what is?”

  “That this may be the first time anyone has ever tried the treatment on an adult. That was Whitworth’s ultimate goal, obviously—he wanted to give Julius magical powers. But I doubt he ever tested it on his brother, because he wanted to perfect it before he put him at risk. But it’s possible—in fact, I strongly suspect it’s true—that purely by accident, you were exactly the right adult to try it on.”

  Jason frowned. “Why is that? There’s nothing special about me. There are plenty of mundanes out there who have magical siblings, right?”

  “Yes, of course. And it’s possible the treatment might have worked on Julius all along, if he’d risked trying it. But…” He stopped, staring at Jason as a sudden thought struck him. “Wait a minute. Wait…a…minute!”

  “What?”

  “Bloody hell, I wonder…”

  “Al,” Jason growled, “if you don’t tell me what’s on your mind right fucking now, I’m gonna see how my fist aura resonates with your jaw aura.”

  “Yes, yes.” Stone barely responded to the empty threat. “Here—come with me. Step into the circle, but don’t smudge anything.”

  Jason stood firm. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what you think is going on.”

  It was clear he wasn’t going to budge—Jason’s stubbornness rivaled Stone’s when he dug in. “Fine. Sorry—I don’t like revealing my thought processes until I’m a lot more certain I’m right. But in your case—there is something special about you.”

  “What?”

  “Your ability to give magical energy to other mages without getting drained. I almost forgot about it, since I don’t need to make use of it anymore.” After Jason moved to the Bay Area to open his agency, Stone had finally been forced to admit to him that he no longer needed to take advantage of the offer to provide him with power. He hadn’t given him any details, beyond that he’d figured out a way to tap Trevor Harrison’s magical source without burning himself out, and Jason hadn’t pushed for them.

  “Wait. I don’t see—”

  “I don’t either, not yet. That’s why I didn’t want to say anything. I’m not sure I’m right. But you mentioned not having anything special, and as far as I know your ability is unique.” He began pacing again, stalking around the perimeter of the circle. “Now, we’ve got no way to test that, since I can’t duplicate Whitworth’s mixture. Even if I could, it wouldn’t be ethical to experiment on other humans. But if I’m correct, something about your ability and Whitworth’s alchemical concoction connected with each other.”

  “That doesn’t make sense, though. My ability is passive. That’s why I didn’t think of it. I could never use it to give myself strength or speed or anything. All I could do was channel power on to other people.”

  “Yes, I know,” Stone said impatiently. “But…what if…” Unconsciously he picked up his pace.

  “What if what? Fuck, Al, if this is what you’re like to work with, I’m glad I never had to do it. We’d kill each other.”

  “Sorry. You’re absolutely right. I’ll try, but no promises. Anyway—and please, don’t get your hopes up because this is nothing more than wild speculation—what if this treatment somehow unlocked the ability for you to make active use of that well of power you’ve got inside you?”

  Jason stared at him. “That’s crazy. If that’s true, then why haven’t I been able to duplicate it since then?”

  “No idea. Perhaps it requires an extreme situation, or heightened adrenaline, or you just got lucky in your desperation and hit on whatever combination you needed to do it. Or, more likely, I’m talking rubbish and the answer’s somewhere completely different. I won’t know without further study.”

  “Well, then, let’s study!” Jason’s voice shook with eagerness. He stepped into the circle, careful not to touch any of the lines. “Come on—let’s do this.”

  “Wait.”

  “What now?”

  Stone sighed. “I hate to do this to you, Jason, but we can’t do it tonight.”

  “What the hell—? Why not?”

  He indicated the circle with a sweeping gesture. “I had no idea that was what we were looking for, and this circle isn’t optimized for that kind of deep scan. Believe me, I know you’re ready to strangle me, but we’ll get much better readings if I alter the circle.”

  “How long is that gonna take?” He threw himself into a chair. “Go ahead, then—I’ll wait.”

  “No. We can’t do it tonight. It will take me several hours to do it, and I need to consult a couple of reference books back home in England.” He crossed the room and gripped Jason’s shoulder. “Come on—I promise, we’ll do this. But you want me to do it right, don’t you? You want answers, not more speculation.”

  It was clear to Stone that the last thing Jason wanted was to wait, but finally he let out a loud, frustrated sigh. “Fine. Whatever. I guess if I’ve waited this long, I can wait a little longer. But tomorrow, okay?”

  “Absolutely,” Stone confirmed. “I haven’t got much to do tomorrow, so I should be able to pop home for those reference sources, and get the circle whipped into shape by tomorrow evening. Come by at seven again and we’ll see what we can find out.”

  “You got it.” Jason heaved himself out of the chair. “I’ll bring the takeout this time.” He took a deep breath and gazed at the circle in wonder. “Holy shit, Al—do you think it might be possible I’ll finally get to use this thing of mine to make me more effective, instead of just giving power to other people?”

  “Don’t get your hopes up,” Stone said gently. “A lot of variables are in play here. But I do think it’s possible, yes.”

  Jason frowned, his brow furrowing.

  “What?”

  “I was just thinking…could this have anything to do with what happened before, when V made that potion using shifter blood to make me stronger?”

  Stone hadn’t thought of that, but he should have. “Possibly. Blood is powerful stuff. But could also mean…” He trailed off, not wanting to let his friend down.

  “What?”

  “Well…that potion was temporary. It’s possible whatever Whitworth did to you was as well. That might be why you haven’t been able to duplicate it.”

  “Damn. Yeah, you’re right.”

  Stone didn’t miss his disappointment. To be offered such a prize and then have it snatched away, not once but twice, had to be hard on him. “We don’t know that for sure yet,” he said gently. “The aura change is a good sign. The other potion didn’t make a permanent change to your aura, so that’s a big difference. I promise—I’ll get this sorted, even if I have to bring in outside assistance.”

  “Thanks, Al. I appreciate it. Honestly, I’m not sure whether I’m happy about this or just wish it had never happened. Getting a little sick of the universe jerking me around, you know? I either want to find out I can do something, or accept that things aren’t gonna change. I’m happy either way at this point, but I want to know.”

  “Of course you do.” Stone ushered him out of the workroom. “Go on home—we could both use a good night’s sleep. We’ll get back to this tomorrow.”

  “Can I tell Amber?”

  Stone raised an eyebrow. “Could I stop you?”

  “Probably not, but I figured I’d ask.”

  After Jason left, Stone drifted through the house, deep in thought. Jason’s situation was like nothin
g he’d ever seen before, and probably something he’d need assistance to figure out. His magical and research chops were well up to the task, but he didn’t have the background in either alchemy or biology to make full sense of even the limited notes he possessed.

  The obvious first choice was Verity, who had proven to be something of a prodigy with alchemy despite having a master whose skill was lacking. If he contacted her, she’d probably drop the rest of her trip and return, but he didn’t want her to do that. She needed this time away, and Jason’s problem would still be here when she returned. In the meantime, he could continue doing what he was doing, gathering as much data as he could collect before seeking out consultants.

  He settled on the couch to finish a Guinness and let his mind wander while music played softly in the background. Best to give the whole matter some time to marinate, at least until tomorrow when he could get home to Surrey and locate the research material he needed. Perhaps he’d even pop up to London and see if Eddie and Ward wanted to discuss it over pints at the Dragon. They didn’t have any more of a background in alchemy or biology than he did, but their insights were always valuable, and Eddie might have something useful at the library. At least he didn’t have to worry about preparing for the new quarter at the University for a while. One problem at a time.

  Finally, around eleven, he dragged himself up and headed upstairs. Raider followed him, padding along on silent paws as he mounted the stairs on the way to his bedroom. It was early for him to go to bed and he wasn’t particularly sleepy, but perhaps he could get an early start tomorrow.

  When he passed the open door to his study, he paused. Should probably check my email before I call it a night. He wasn’t expecting anything specific, but Beatrice Martinez and Mackenzie Hubbard from the department had been sending him a few things throughout the summer, and he hadn’t been as diligent as he should have been about keeping on top of them. This might be a good time to clear out his inbox.

  There weren’t any new emails from either Martinez or Hubbard, but one name stood out among the few bits of spam: Gina R. The subject line was More on Bat Boy (Girl), and it included two attachments. The timestamp was from a couple hours ago.

  Curious, Stone opened the email. He hadn’t thought any more about the odd article today, assuming since it had disappeared, the publication had probably pulled it as a fake.

  Hey Dr Stone, it read.

  I was doing a little more searching on that article I found today. Still haven’t turned up any other mentions of it, but I checked in with some friends who are even better @ this stuff than I am. One of them found something u might find interesting. It’s a real (blurry) photo of the creature. If u ask me it still looks like a big ol hoax, but u seemed interested so I’m passing it along. Let me know if u want me to look for more.

  Thx,

  gina

  Stone chuckled. She was probably right: the photo would be as bad as the crude sketch. He didn’t have time to deal with it now anyway.

  Idly, he clicked the first attachment. As he expected, it was a copy of the same article she’d shown him and Jason earlier that day.

  The second attachment was a photo. He clicked it and the image popped up.

  Gina was right: it was blurry, no doubt snapped with a phone camera while its owner was moving. It showed dirt, trees, and stars—a night shot. The shadowy figures of several people milled around in the background.

  Stone barely looked at any of this, though. His attention was fixed on the slim form lying on the ground at the figures’ feet.

  It looked like a woman, dressed in an odd assortment of sand-colored clothes. She appeared human—mostly. As the article had mentioned, her skin had an unhealthy gray pallor, and her hair, spread out beneath her, was a pale silvery-green. Her eyes were closed. Something about her expression and posture clearly revealed she was in distress. Even without the gray pallor, Stone could see something was wrong with her.

  He leaned in closer, wishing the shot was clearer. Quite probably, a group of pranksters had used makeup and a wig to create their “alien” sighting, but Stone couldn’t drag his gaze away from the slim, suffering woman. Something about her looked familiar. The thought nagged at the edges of his mind. He’d seen this woman—or someone who resembled her—before, but where? Had it been on some television show, or in one of his students’ reports about supernatural urban legends?

  When it came to him, he jerked back in his chair, startling Raider.

  Bloody hell.

  He leaned in closer, his gaze fixed on the woman’s face.

  It can’t be.

  It’s a coincidence. This is nothing but a hoax.

  But…said a little voice in the back of his head…what if it isn’t?

  He clicked the corner of the photo with a shaking hand, expanding it to fill the entire screen. It didn’t help much; the image had been grainy before, and enlarging it only made it grainier.

  It didn’t matter, though.

  The more he looked at it, the more certain he was that his fear was correct.

  Before he thought about what he was doing, he snapped up his phone from beneath an indignant Raider and tapped a familiar contact, hoping the party would be in his office this late.

  It rang twice before it was picked up. “Good evening, Dr. Stone.” The male voice was pleasant and clearly unaffected by Stone’s agitation. “It’s been a while. What can I do for you tonight?”

  “Hello, Mr. Nakamura. I know this is a long shot, but—is your boss around?”

  “I’m afraid not. I haven’t seen him in quite some time. Is there something I can help you with?”

  Stone stared at the image in front of him. “No, I don’t think so—not unless you can get a message to him.”

  “As I’ve told you before, I can try—but I wouldn’t count on my success. Is something wrong?”

  He expanded the photo further, zooming in on the face. Even as pixelated as it was, he couldn’t miss the unconscious woman’s distress. “Yes. I think so.” He sighed. Why was the man so damned hard to reach? “Er…listen—please pass this message on to him, in whatever way you can manage, and ask him to contact me as soon as he gets it. It’s very important.”

  “Of course, Dr. Stone. I’ll do my best. What’s the message?”

  “Tell him I can’t be certain, but I think a Traveler has popped up here, and she’s in trouble.”

  3

  Stone didn’t sleep for the rest of the night. Instead he spent it pacing, reading and re-reading the article Gina had sent him, and studying the photo. He pulled out his phone every few minutes, checking if somehow a voicemail or other message had gotten through without alerting him.

  Of course nothing had.

  “Damn Harrison anyway,” he snapped to Raider, who’d settled on the top of his leather sofa and was watching him with growing confusion. Clearly, the cat thought it wasn’t at all like his human to be this agitated this late at night. Usually he was asleep by now, fulfilling his proper function as a warm cat bed. “Why is he so bloody hard to find?”

  He threw himself back into his desk chair, looking at the photo for at least the twentieth time. Now that his initial shock had died down several hours later, he wondered if he hadn’t misinterpreted the whole thing.

  How the hell could a Traveler from Calanar even be here, on this dimension?

  More to the point, why would she be here?

  It didn’t make sense. It made much more sense that the campers had staged a hoax, buying a green wig and some makeup at a costume-supply shop and setting up the whole thing as a prank to get attention.

  But if they were trying to get attention, why would all the stories have disappeared? Why would they be prevented from posting their images? Why did the authorities confiscate their phones?

  He shoved the photo aside, pulled up a web browser, and entered every search term he could think of, trying to find either the story Gina had sent him or any others about the same event. He was nowhere near as inte
rnet-savvy as Gina or even Jason, but he still knew how difficult it was to completely scrub a news story once it was out in the world. Usually, the harder someone tried to suppress it, the more it spread.

  He found nothing.

  He forced himself to calm down and read the original story again. No new details emerged, of course: the story didn’t include the names of the campers or any specifics about where they’d discovered the woman. All it said was that they’d been “up in the mountains” northwest of Crested Butte. Not much to go on.

  He replied to Gina’s email, asking her to keep looking for anything she could find that might narrow down either the location or the participants. If he could find even one of the campers and talk to them, perhaps he could either verify the whole thing was a hoax and he was worrying about nothing, or get a better idea where to look for more evidence.

  Either way, he couldn’t do much else tonight. Reluctantly, he shut down the computer and rose with a sigh.

  Raider immediately hopped off the couch, jumped on the desk, and eyed him with an expression that clearly said, Come on, human, enough foolishness. I need my warm bed.

  Stone chuckled, scratching his ears. “All right, all right. You’ve been very patient.” As he picked the cat up and headed for the bedroom, he wondered if perhaps he hadn’t been a bit hasty trying to contact Trevor Harrison about this. He could already picture Harrison’s expression if it did turn out to be nothing but a bunch of university students staging a prank, and didn’t think that would end well for him.

  He woke early the following morning, and immediately reached for his phone.

  Still no response from Harrison, which wasn’t surprising. What was surprising was that he had a reply from Gina.

  Bloody hell, she must stay up later than I do. He tapped the message.

  Hey Dr Stone. Ur up late! Anyway, I checked and all I could find was one name, *maybe*. One of the campers was Devin Lund from Denver. I’ll keep looking for more info, but I got u an address and phone number, I think, if it’s the same guy. Didn’t try it. I’ll keep looking. Gotta get some sleep now—J-man gets grumpy when I nod off @ my desk. Tell him it’s ur fault! :)