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

by R. L. King

  Something was definitely going on. Stone wondered if Todd was aware he was giving away more than he intended to by his mere presence here. If whatever organization he represented wanted to keep the whole thing under their hats, it would make more sense to let it die a natural death. “Were you responsible for Devin Lund’s sudden departure from the University?”

  “Me? No, of course not. From what I understand, he had a family emergency.”

  Stone didn’t roll his eyes, but he might as well have. “Of course he did. Right after he returned home from the ill-fated camping trip, where he and his friends discovered an unusual, unconscious humanoid out in the middle of the great bugger-all. What a coincidence that is.”

  Todd shrugged. “Things happen. I assure you, Mr. Lund’s family is fine.”

  “You checked? Or you didn’t need to check, because you already knew?”

  “What did Mr. Vargas tell you? I understand you spoke with him as well.”

  So it was going to be one of those kinds of conversations. “He didn’t tell me anything. Not verbally, anyway.”

  “Oh?”

  “Come on. It didn’t take a master poker player to see he was nervous as hell about something. Probably because someone either paid him off or threatened him to keep his mouth shut.” He leaned forward, fixing his gaze on Todd. “So the question is, what did they find up there in those mountains? Why are you so interested in it? And, most importantly of all—where is it now?”

  “I’m not going to answer those questions, Dr. Stone.” Todd’s tone remained mild, conversational.

  “Ah. So you expect me to answer yours, but you won’t answer mine.”

  “I don’t expect you to do anything. If you want to tell me, I’d be very interested in hearing. But if you don’t, that’s fine too.”

  “Then what are you doing here?” Stone indicated the room. “I can’t imagine you broke into my room because you want to discuss the weather.”

  “Not at all. I just wanted to deliver a message.”

  “A message from whom?”

  Todd stood. “Please, Dr. Stone—let this one go. You’re not going to get anywhere with it. If anything was found—and I’m not saying it was or it wasn’t—I assure you, it would be handled at the proper levels. Those levels don’t include an occult expert, even one with your reputation and legendary curiosity.”

  “Proper levels.” Stone hadn’t seen Raiders of the Lost Ark since he was a teenager, but he still remembered the scene at the end where the Ark had been boxed up and stowed in a warehouse, anonymous and forgotten among thousands of similar boxes.

  Top. Men.

  “Well, Todd,” he said, in the same conversational tone, “I’m not sure I can do that. Because you’re right—I am known for my legendary curiosity, and once I’m pointed at a puzzle, it’s difficult to steer me away until I’ve found what I’m looking for.”

  Neither Todd nor his aura seemed disturbed by his words. “It’s up to you, Dr. Stone. You aren’t going to find anything—now, whether that’s because there’s nothing to find or because it’s hidden well enough you’ll never discover it, I’m not going to say. But as long as you obey the law and don’t poke your nose where it doesn’t belong, I can’t officially do anything about you.”

  “And if I do poke my nose where it doesn’t belong?” Stone flashed him a challenging glance.

  “Well, then…it’s possible someone might take a closer look at you and your very strange travel patterns. Among other things you might not want coming to light.” He smiled and moved toward the door. “That’s not a threat, by the way, so please don’t take it that way. I hope we can reach a friendly understanding. Take my advice—let this one go. There are plenty of other weird puzzles out in the world you can satisfy your curiosity with. Good night, Dr. Stone.”

  Before Stone could reply, he opened the door and slipped out, closing it softly behind him.

  Stone strode to the window, watching Todd as he descended the stairs, crossed the parking lot to a dark sedan, and drove off into the night. Then he locked the door.

  Well. So he’d poked something with his investigations, and now he was one hundred percent certain whatever those kids had found up in the mountains, it wasn’t a hoax or a prank.

  The question still remained, though: was it a Traveler, or something else?

  And even if the people Todd represented had the creature the campers had found—alive or dead—did they know about the rift?

  Todd clearly knew more about him than he preferred, but that didn’t mean he knew everything.

  He smiled.

  Tomorrow, he intended to find out.

  It was amusing for Todd and his people to think veiled, genteel threats like that would deter him.

  Clearly, they didn’t know him as well as they thought they did.

  7

  Stone didn’t sleep well.

  The bed wasn’t comfortable, and even despite the simple wards he’d put up around the window and the door before retiring, he still started at every random noise. Finally, he gave up and dragged himself out of bed at seven a.m., took a shower to help wake up, and trudged downstairs to grab some coffee and a pastry from the lackluster continental-breakfast spread in the lobby.

  Before heading out to the parking lot, he ducked into an alcove and summoned an invisibility spell around himself. Then, mindful of the short time he could maintain it, he spent a few moments scanning the lot for hidden auras or anyone who might be paying too much attention to who was coming and going.

  He saw nothing, so either Todd’s people weren’t watching him, or else they were hiding inside one of the rooms. Not much he could do about that—and besides, too much paranoia was as bad as not enough. Idly, he wondered if Todd and Glenn Turman, the FBI agent who’d been searching for Melvin Whitworth, were aware of each other.

  As he drove off, he considered whether his paranoia should extend to wondering if Todd was tapping his phone, or had perhaps placed a listening or tracking device in his car. Mundanes might not have magic, but they had plenty of amazing technological devices that let them do many of the same things. Jason had given him a crash course on some of the spy tech available to even run-of-the-mill private investigators like himself, and Stone was certain if Todd worked for some branch of the government or the military, he had access to even better versions.

  Even so, though, there wasn’t much he could do about it. Todd had already proven he could track his car rentals, and Stone didn’t have the kind of knowledge necessary to thwart that kind of scrutiny. He didn’t have any fake IDs or secret credit cards, and even if a rental agency would give him a different car in exchange for a stack of cash, he still had to get the cash somewhere, and he’d still have to fill out paperwork.

  Damned if the mundanes weren’t starting to catch up with mages in many aspects of daily life.

  He decided to split the difference: if there was a tracking device on his car, then so be it. Todd was probably only worried about him trying to find the woman, not the location where she was discovered. No mundane, and bloody few mages, would have a chance of finding any rifts that might be up there. He would take the precaution of not making phone calls inside the car, but he couldn’t do much about Todd tapping his phone since he didn’t know where to get one of the “burners” Amber had mentioned. He’d just have to be careful about what he said and hope for the best. He was probably being overly cautious anyway.

  The drive from Gunnison to Crested Butte took forty-five minutes. Stone didn’t drive as fast as he normally did, content to keep to the speed limit and enjoy the scenery. The day was warm but not too hot, and he encountered a lot of cars going in both directions. This time of year, the area had to be popular with tourists and local campers.

  He’d brought along a detailed map showing the location of the rift as precisely as he could manage. When he compared the data he’d gathered from Desmond’s globe to some maps on the internet back home in Encantada, he’d discovered the rift
wasn’t close to any of the established campgrounds. There were quite a lot of them, but Devin Lund and his friends had probably avoided them because they were looking for something more private. Stone hadn’t spent much (well, any) time camping when he was younger, and he was somewhat apprehensive about tramping off into the wilderness on his own. Even though he was sure he could deal with any eventuality—from bears to getting lost—using magic, that didn’t mean he was crazy about the idea of doing it.

  Should have brought Jason along. Or even better, Amber, who was more comfortable in this kind of terrain than she was in the city. But if he’d done that, he’d have needed to give them at least some explanation of what he was looking for, and his oath to Kolinsky prevented that.

  He was truly beginning to regret that oath, but he couldn’t do anything about it now.

  One thing encouraged him: when he’d zoomed the internet map in as tight as possible, he’d spotted a narrow, winding road that meandered not far from his best guess at the rift location. If he was reading the map correctly, the rift was near a tiny lake several miles west of Crested Butte, and the road passed by less than a mile from it. That wouldn’t be much of a hike, he figured. He was in good shape and had plenty of magic.

  He stopped in Crested Butte and bought a few things before he left: a small daypack, a couple of water bottles, some energy bars, a knife, a wide-brimmed hat, some sunblock, and a pair of sunglasses. It was probably overkill—he didn’t expect to be gone more than a couple hours, and he wasn’t heading that far out—but bringing it along didn’t slow him down.

  The guy at the supply store gave him a couple of sideways glances—he didn’t exactly look the part of a Colorado backpacker with his long black coat and pale complexion—but didn’t say anything. A customer was a customer.

  Stone drove west out of Crested Butte. A couple miles out, he found the turnoff to the narrow road that would eventually take him as far as he could go. He wondered if he should have rented a Jeep or other four-wheel-drive vehicle, but the weather was pleasant and the road, though dirt, was wide enough he shouldn’t run into any trouble. He hoped, at least. He’d filled up the tank before he left.

  The road meandered back and forth for several miles, with a number of sharp switchbacks. Twice, Stone pulled off as much as he could and consulted his paper maps to make sure he was still heading in the right direction. So far, they matched up with the map on his phone, but he didn’t know how much longer he’d have an internet connection out here in the boonies. On paper the distance wasn’t far, but the combination of dirt road and frequent changes of direction meant he couldn’t drive as fast as he’d like.

  He’d just negotiated yet another switchback when his phone beeped. He pulled over again and checked it, discovering a text.

  Hey, Doc. Haven’t checked in with you for a while. How are you?

  Verity. He smiled. He hadn’t lied to Jason: ever since their little chat at the bar during the Symposium, things had been a lot less stressful between them. She’d texted him several times with updates on her trip, and they’d even chatted on the phone a couple times. He did have a slight amount of apprehension about how things would go once she returned to the Bay Area, but he was confident they could sort out any lingering difficulties.

  Good, he sent back. Investigating a little puzzle. You? The phone’s signal strength indicator fluctuated between one and two bars. He hoped it would stay that way at least long enough to finish the conversation.

  I’m good. Glad to be coming home. I’ve missed Raider.

  Just Raider? Not Jason, or Amber, or me?

  You guys know where you fit in the hierarchy.

  Stone chuckled, picturing her laugh and the mischievous sparkle in her eyes. Where are you?

  Wyoming. It’s pretty up here. Just taking a little break on the drive. I stopped by Mason yesterday to check on you-know-what.

  Oh? He tensed. They’d closed the rift near there, the one that had engulfed a tiny town and shifted it to another plane before they managed to bring it back. It hadn’t appeared on Desmond’s globe during his check yesterday.

  Don’t worry. Everything’s fine. I even went to Cinder. It’s there, solid as ever and boring as hell. I don’t know what people *do* in dinky towns like that. Watch paint dry? Count cows?

  Damn, it was good to have their easy, effortless banter back. He couldn’t lie—he missed the more physical aspect of their old relationship, but in the long term, this was better. Mostly plot ways to get out, I’d wager.

  No kidding. Are you home? Bored? How are Jason and Amber doing? Did they buy that house in Santa Cruz yet?

  They did. Waiting for escrow to close so they can start pulling it apart and rebuilding. I’m in Colorado.

  There was a long pause as the little dots cycled. Colorado? What are you doing there? Wait, you said a puzzle. Does it involve moose? Mooses? Meese?

  Do they even have moose in Colorado? He sent that and left it, trying to decide how much else he wanted to tell her.

  Doc…

  Yes, of course she wouldn’t let it go at that. If she did, she wouldn’t be Verity. Mindful of the possibility that whoever Todd worked for might have bugged his phone—or could check his text records at some later date—he thought carefully about how he wanted to reply. Just something Gina discovered. Nothing to get terribly excited about.

  Another pause, and more dots. You don’t go to Colorado for no good reason.

  Can’t talk about it now. I need to get going. I’m in the car.

  Do you need help?

  He considered. Having her here to assist him in searching for the portal might be a good thing, but one fact he had learned a long time ago about the United States: especially in the western part of the country, the states were big. Just because she was only one state over didn’t mean she wasn’t a good day’s drive, minimum, from where he was now. After Todd’s little visit last night, he didn’t feel inclined to wait any longer than necessary to find out whether he had another rift on his hands. Besides that, he’d never told her about what happened on Calanar. If the mysterious being the campers had discovered was a Traveler, that might mean he’d need to do things he wouldn’t want to involve her in.

  No, I’ve got this sorted. Where are you going next?

  You sure?

  Quite sure.

  Okay… Dots again. I’m planning to go through southern Idaho, across Oregon, and then down. Should be home next week.

  Brilliant. Enjoy the rest of your trip, and I’ll see you when you return.

  Looking forward to it. I *do* miss you guys. All of you. Just Raider the most. :)

  Understandable. The strength indicator was now on a single bar, and that was flickering. Must go, losing signal.

  Love you, Doc.

  The words stung just a little, but he remembered what he’d told her at the bar outside Chicago: there were many different kinds of love. I love you too, Verity. Take care and I’ll see you soon.

  He tossed the phone back on the seat and started the car. So far, he’d only passed one other vehicle since he’d branched off to the side road, and it was heading the other way. He wasn’t sure that meant this wasn’t a popular camping spot or he’d just gotten lucky because it was a weekday. Either way, the drive was beautiful but aggravating due to the care he had to take to avoid a mishap.

  After another forty-five minutes and one wrong turn he didn’t catch until the road he was on ended abruptly at a clump of trees, he finally reached the end of the line. He glanced at his phone on the passenger seat, noting the NO SERVICE message that had replaced the flickering single bar.

  He was on his own now.

  He pulled off the road and gathered his gear, looking around with both magical and normal sight. There was no evidence of any human presence, only trees, the far-off sounds of birds and small animals, and a brilliant, clear blue sky overhead.

  He put a disregarding spell on the car just in case, then consulted his map and the compass on his phone. Thes
e things really were amazing lately, with all sorts of useful apps. Losing his old one recently had forced him to replace it, and he’d chosen a top-of-the-line model with every feature he could pack into it. The mundanes had truly outdone themselves with some of this new technology. He’d still rather have magic, and there were still things technology would likely never rival, but the gap got narrower every year.

  Thinking about magic and technology reminded him of Trevor Harrison, who seemed to be the master of both. A twinge of regret gripped him—if he’d taken the man up on his offer to teach him back on Calanar, he could have learned all sorts of things by now. He’d thought he’d have another chance, but he hadn’t seen a sign of Harrison since he’d returned home two years ago.

  Ah, well. No point dwelling on it now. Harrison would turn up or he wouldn’t, but either way Stone had a job to do. He looked around one more time to verify nobody was watching, then used a levitation spell to lift off the ground.

  There was no reason for him to hike, after all. There could be bears down there, and even with the compass he might get lost among all those trees. He had magic—he might as well use it. And besides, from up here he had a better chance of spotting the rift, if there was one.

  He checked the map one last time, used the compass to orient himself in the right direction, and floated off.

  If he was reading the map correctly, the rift should be half a mile to the northwest, not far from a small lake. That seemed a good place to camp; Stone wondered if Lund and the others had parked where he had and packed in, laughing and joking as they tromped through the woods with no idea their lives would soon be turned upside-down by their strange discovery. If the rift was here, would it be near the lake where they’d probably camped, or a distance away? If the mysterious being was a Traveler, had she managed to stay conscious long enough to stagger away from the rift before passing out?