Fire and Ice

  She took a deep breath and let it out as the memory of the original spell returned to her mind.

  Instincts.

  She smiled and let her mind guide her. She placed one small extra symbol on the duplicate tablet.

  May the destruction of this duplicate only serve to further solidify the original spell.

  Hee hee hee.

  She flipped it facedown and returned it to place in the path where the paver with the V on it had been laid. The paver with the V, she put in the place of the modified paver. To the average eye, no one would notice anything amiss.

  Lina stood and brushed the dirt off her hands.

  “Happy?” Zack asked.

  “I will be once we stop these fuckers.”

  Chapter Five

  Callie, Daniel, Brodey, and Wally set out to do some investigations and run down some information on the cockatrice first thing the next morning after breakfast. They got a rental car and would join the rest of them later at the hotel in Brussels. Everyone else loaded into the rental van with their luggage and hit the road with Uncle Andel following in his car. With a stop for lunch, the drive took less than five hours.

  They checked into their hotel in Brussels. Lina tried to steel herself for the meeting with the other shifter bigwigs. Many of them hadn’t made it to the Yellowstone gathering. It took them an hour to drive to the estate outside of Brussels, which made the place she’d just inherited from Bertholde look like a cheap-ass slum.

  A crisply uniformed butler led them through the house to a large drawing room. There were already twelve men there, one of them who looked older than dirt. He sat, shrunken by age and dwarfed by his wheelchair, but his flinty grey eyes looked hard, cold, and fully aware.

  Without any formalities, Andel started. “The cockatrice are back with a vengeance,” he said. “They’re behind the murders of several people, including our Seer, Bertholde.” The room rumbled, but silenced when he spoke again.

  “They’re after the Tablet of Trammel,” he said, which started another round of grumbling.

  Lina watched the old man in the wheelchair. She didn’t like him, even though he hadn’t said a word yet. When his eyes fell on her, she didn’t blink and refused to back down. Eventually, he looked away.

  Her gaze narrowed. Good, you should fear me, old man.

  She didn’t understand why she felt an instant dislike for him, but she damn sure wouldn’t cower before him.

  After a brief retelling of the recent events, leaving out the part about them finding and relocating the Tablet, the old man spoke.

  “We are in modern times,” he said with a strong voice that totally didn’t match his withered body. “The Tablet is a myth, nothing more.”

  Jocko got in the man’s face. “Ye’ve seen the bloody thing yerself. And ye ain’t modern, who ye kiddin’?” He jabbed his finger at the man. “Don’t ye bloody bastards still have an outstanding blood oath against yer own kind, this many centuries later?”

  “That’s none of your business!”

  “Anythin’ affecting my Pack is my business, Rodolfo Abernathy!” Jocko fiercely growled. “An’ I’ll tell ye somethin’ else. Ye come sniffin’ around my Pack or my Clan, I’ll take yer bloody nose off!”

  There were assorted grumbles and growls from around the room, but Jocko squared off against them. His massive form commanded attention. “I’ll tell all ye the same thing, too. I’ve lost too many good, innocent people over the years. To the cockatrice. To damn blood oaths. To sheer idiocy and greed. Ye all have, too, but apparently I’m the only one with the stones to stand up to this stupid old man. It stops here, and it stops now!”

  “You do not tell me how to run my Pack,” Abernathy said.

  Jocko wheeled around on him. “I will tell ye to stay outta my Pack!” He stood over the other man, his voice low and growly. “I know damn well ye had somethin’ to do with the deaths of Charles and Ellie. Ye were pissed off they helped people escape yer dirty clutches. And when I prove it, I’ll rip yer damn throat out myself!”

  Andel grabbed Jocko by the arm and pulled him back, whispering to him to calm down. With Zack’s help, they got him settled in chair in the far corner. Lina decided if she was the Seer, it was time for her to nut up or shut up.

  She stepped forward, ignoring Abernathy. “With or without your help, we are going after the cockatrice.” She glanced at Abernathy. “Anyone who gets in our way will be dealt with. Don’t piss me off. I’m hormonal and emotional and looking for an excuse to blow someone up.”

  After twenty minutes, it was obvious none of them had much in the way of helpful information. Well, Lina suspected Abernathy knew more than he said, but he wasn’t giving it up if he did. Jocko and Andel were able to pull together some information from the other shifters that might prove helpful on finding the local cockatrice nest.

  Just as she was about to go after Abernathy to find out what he was hiding, Callie and the others showed up.

  With some relief, Zack pulled Lina aside with a suggestion. “Why don’t I take you back to the hotel now that they’re back?” he said.

  Callie spoke up. “I’ll do it.”

  “Cool. Okay, thanks.”

  Out in the car, Lina looked at Callie. “We’re not really going to the hotel, are we?”

  She laughed. “Hell, no.”

  * * * *

  Callie found a place to park in an old part of town. They walked for a few minutes as Callie got her bearings.

  “This looks familiar,” Callie said.

  Lina followed Callie down a dingy, narrow cobblestone street. “You sure this is the right way?” Lina nervously asked.

  “I think so.” She slowed at a corner and studied the buildings. “It’s been a long time, but these buildings are really old. It looks right.”

  “You realize Rick and Jan are going to want to spank me for coming out here without them, right?”

  Callie turned and grinned. “You lucky girl.”

  Exasperated, Lina groaned. “Some of us don’t like to be spanked!”

  “Hmph. Well, that’s all right. You have other nice qualities.” She took off down another street.

  Lina rolled her eyes and followed Callie. After three more turns and ten minutes of walking, Lina grabbed Callie’s arm. “Explain to me again why we aren’t driving?”

  “Narrow streets. Crappy traffic. And last time I was here, there weren’t any cars and we traveled on foot or horseback. Wait! That’s it!” She pointed to a wood and whitewashed plaster building kitty-corner across the street from where they stood. Callie took off with Lina in tow.

  Outside the dingy front window, Callie looked at a dusty display of stone and wood statues in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and subjects stacked on several risers covered with a velveteen black cloth covered in what looked like cat hair. Lina looked up at the sign. It was in French, but she didn’t understand it.

  “What’s that mean?”

  Callie looked up. “Loosely translated, it’s ‘Carving Artisan.’ Come on.”

  An anemic-sounding bell tinkled when they stepped into the cramped showroom, but no one appeared at the small counter in the back.

  “Bonjour?” Callie called out. Lina didn’t miss how when Callie stepped forward, she seemed to instinctively keep Lina directly behind her in a protective manner.

  No one answered her call.

  Slowly weaving through dusty displays to make their way to the back of the shop, Lina felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. She grabbed it and answered. It was Zack.

  “Where the hell are you two?”

  Lina gave him the address. “Callie says this is the place.”

  “I’ll be right there, give me five minutes. Do not move.”

  “Where’s Rick and Jan?”

  “They and the rest of them went with Kael to check out a lead on the nest.” He hung up on her.

  Callie glanced back at her. “Mother hen?”

  “Yep.” They stood at the counter.

&nb
sp; Callie tapped a small bell set on the corner of the counter for getting the clerk’s attention. “Bonjour?” No response.

  Callie arched an eyebrow as she stared at the closed curtain covering the doorway behind the counter.

  “Stay here,” she said. Before Lina could stop her, Callie had quickly stepped around the counter and through the curtain.

  Lina wanted to call out a warning to her to be careful, but then she heard her friend’s gasp. “Lina, come here.”

  With dread, Lina made her way to the back of the shop. The small, cramped work space held three benches covered with various tools Lina assumed were used for carving. A small grinding machine was set up on a stand in one corner. There were also several saws and tumblers she guessed were also used by the artisan.

  She also assumed the dead older man lying curled on his side on the floor in a pool of his own blood was the artisan in question. “Shit.” From his color, and the fact that the blood had started congealing and drying at the edges of the puddle, she guessed he’d been dead a while.

  Callie knelt down to try to get a better look at his face. All Lina could tell was he looked to be in his seventies and had grey hair and a walrus mustache. “Do you know him?” Lina asked.

  Callie shook her head. “No. I don’t think so. This isn’t the guy I knew. Might be his son or other relative.” She looked up and pointed at one of the shelves. “Look at that.”

  Lina stepped around the dead man. She wondered that she wasn’t getting upset over stumbling on a dead body, but then she suspected she knew exactly who had killed this man. And why. On a top shelf, partially hidden by some small boxes, sat raw chunks of catlinite.

  Callie stood and looked around. “Well, we’re not getting any answers out of him. Let’s see what we can find.” She opened a file cabinet and started rifling through it.

  Lina looked around, not sure what she was looking for. When the front doorbell rang a few minutes later, she jumped. They both looked at each other. Callie had started for the curtained doorway when they heard Zack call out.

  “Lina? Where are you?”

  “Back here,” she called.

  Seconds later, he ran through the doorway and barely had enough time to skid to a stop so he didn’t step on the dead man. “Holy shit!” He glared at Callie. “What the hell did you do that for?”

  She gave him a disgusted look and planted her hands on her hips. “Why the hell do you just naturally assume I did anything? We found him like that. He’s been dead for hours. Duh.”

  “Oh.” Zack did, in fact, look more closely. “Sorry.”

  “Believe me, when I kill someone, it’s a lot more creative than stabbing them in the heart. Besides, that’s a typical cockatrice trick. Signature move.”

  Zack and Lina exchanged a look, and at the same time said, “Son of a bitch!”

  “What?”

  Zack said, “I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that whoever killed Bertholde killed this guy, too. That’s how they murdered her. They stabbed her in the heart.”

  “They didn’t leave a knife this time,” Lina pointed out.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Callie said. “Stabbing someone in the heart is something peculiar they do. I never learned what the significance is, but it’s just their thing. Like the mob leaving a horse’s head in your bed.”

  “Great,” Zack said. “We should get out of here.”

  “We haven’t finished tossing the place yet,” Callie pointed out.

  “I don’t care. We can come back later and do it. I want Lina out of here.”

  “Lina’s a big girl,” Callie said. “We’ll keep her safe.”

  “Hello,” Lina said. “Lina is right here.” She waved her hand in Zack’s face. “Goddess wants to stay and play Sherlock Holmes,” she snarked. “I’m tired of feeling helpless.”

  “Fine. Let’s do it fast and get the hell out of here. What are we looking for?”

  Lina grabbed an empty plastic shopping bag and retrieved the uncarved catlinite. No surprise, she felt nothing when she picked up the stone.

  Into the bag she dumped it. Callie handed her some papers from the file cabinet before she started rifling through the desk. After ten minutes, Zack smacked himself on the forehead. “Anyone look at his wallet?”

  The women stared at him for a moment. “Just fucking shoot me and get it over with,” Lina said.

  Callie smacked herself on the forehead much as Zack had and stooped down to rummage through the dead man’s pockets. She stood up, his wallet and phone in her hand. “Let’s take them. He’s not going to need them.”

  Lina wasn’t sure she liked the dark humor, but she also couldn’t disagree with the logic. Into the bag they went.

  Callie returned to the desk, and when she reached the bottom drawer on the right-hand side, she found it locked. “Fuck this,” she mumbled, and put her hand on the lock.

  With a bright flash of light and puff of smoke, the lock exploded. Callie opened the drawer and started exploring. After a moment, she emptied the drawer onto the desk and tapped the bottom of it. “Hmm.” They heard the sound of wood cracking, then Callie let out a low whistle.

  “What?” Zack asked.

  “Boys and girls, we’ve hit the jackpot.” She pulled something out and turned so they could see it.

  It looked like an exact copy of the cockatrice spell book.

  “Fuck me,” Zack said.

  There was also an address book and a small journal inside the false bottom. They took them, returned the drawer to its place, and dumped the remaining items back inside before closing it. “Now let’s get the hell out of here,” Callie said.

  “Agreed,” Zack concurred.

  They started for the curtain when they heard the bell on the front door tinkle. The three of them froze. They stared at each other, holding their breaths.

  After a minute, they didn’t hear anything. Zack shrugged and peeked through the curtain. “No one there,” he said.

  They all stepped through the curtain. Sure enough, the showroom was empty.

  “Weird,” Callie muttered. “They must have changed their mind about coming in.” She led the way to the door and peeked through it. With the way apparently clear, she opened it and they filed out, Callie taking the lead and Zack bringing up the rear.

  They turned the opposite way of how they arrived. “We came that way,” Lina said, tapping Callie on the shoulder.

  “I know. I’ve got a feeling. We’d better go this way.” In fact, she led them across the street and as she started to pick up the pace, Lina had a flash.

  “Wait. Hold up.” She pulled Zack and Callie into the doorway of an empty store and peeked out, down the street.

  She felt dizzy. With the exception that it wasn’t blue, it was the scene from her vision of the third killer.

  “This is it,” she whispered.

  “What?” Callie asked.

  “Lina, honey? You’re scaring me,” Zack said.

  “Shut up,” Lina ordered. They stood there, waiting. A few minutes later, an older man, heavyset and with greying hair, emerged from a wine store a few doors down from the other shop.

  It was him. She’d bet her life on it. He looked older than he had when he’d committed the murder, and had packed on some pounds, but it was him.

  Lina poked Zack in the arm and frantically motioned to him. He carefully peeked around the corner. The man started toward the artisan’s store but Lina felt anger overcome her as she remembered how Kael’s family had died. Before either Zack or Callie could stop her, she shoved the bag at Zack and stepped out of the doorway.

  She screamed at the man. “Hey, fat boy. Remember me?” She felt rage coiling and building in her gut.

  The man stopped. Then, as he got a good look at her face, shock and fear washed over his expression.

  “That’s it,” she said as she crossed the street, oblivious to the cars that screeched to a stop to avoid hitting her. “Stand right there.” She raised her right arm. This felt right. br />
  Really right.

  Let’s see if I can not-so-randomly blow something up. Like barbecued bastard.

  She felt the fireball congealing in her right hand when he seemed to regain his senses. He drew a revolver from his pocket and started shooting at her.

  Letting out a frightened squeak, she immediately waved her left hand in front of her. A wall of ice formed, sprouting cracks where the bullets harmlessly bounced off it. “Hey! That’s assault with intent, fat boy!”

  Lina was vaguely aware of Zack screaming her name when the guy turned and ran. She waved her hand and the ice disappeared. The bullets harmlessly hit the cobblestones. A car pulled around her and she tried to vault over the hood, but she stumbled on the other side and hit the sidewalk flat on her face.

  By the time the three of them reached the alley the man had turned down, there was no sign of him.

  “Son of a bitch!” she screamed.

  Callie turned, startled, as the sound of sirens reached them. “Gendarmes. Come on. We need to go!” She grabbed Lina’s arm.

  Lina tried to shake her off. “We need to go after him! That’s the guy I saw help kill Kael’s family! And he was probably at Yellowstone!”

  Zack grabbed her other arm. “No, we need to get the hell out of here before we’re arrested.”

  “What about the car?” Callie asked.

  “Fuck it, we’ll get it later, when things calm down.” They hurried down the street, breaking into a run as they rounded the next corner.

  Callie took the lead. “This way.” She led them down a series of allies until they emerged inside a market. They stopped as she got her bearings. “Come on.”

  At a small café next door, they got an inside table and nervously watched out the front window. After twenty minutes and eating a light lunch of cheese and soup, they relaxed. “I think we’re safe,” Callie said, low enough no one else could hear.

  Zack looked down at his cell phone. “Jan and Rick are on their way in the rental car to pick us up. They’ll pull up out front.” He motioned for the check. “Let’s sit here until they say they’re close.”