Witchling

Page 16

 

  "True. I suppose we were the logical choices for this assignment. Maybe headquarters wasn't punishing us after all. Most of the agents assigned Earthside go through long periods of transition, but we already knew a lot about life here before we ever joined the OIA. "

  "It's a comforting thought. " Delilah peeked down the hall into the living room. "Chase and Maggie are asleep. She's such a cutie. Can we really keep her?" The wistful tone to her voice made me smile. Delilah always brought home stray animals when she was young, and Mother had asked Father to build a shed out in back of our home specifically for Delilah's menagerie.

  "Yes, we can keep her. Her mother's probably churning out babies for some demon's sweet tooth, and HQ isn't going to want her. I don't know how Menolly will feel about it, but she'll come around. "

  "Everything's ready. Let's eat. " With that, she went to wake Chase. While he washed his hands, I showed her how to mix up the cream for Maggie, and we fed her, then put her to bed before settling in at the table for our own meal.

  "Are gargoyles intelligent?" Chase asked, taking his third piece of pizza.

  "Some are," I said cautiously, in case Maggie could understand the rudiments of language. "They can be brilliant, or they can have the brainpower of the average cat. A lot depends on the nutrition their mother gets during pregnancy, the clan their bloodline hearkens from, and whether they were handled roughly at birth. Considering the harpy had her, I'm not at all sure Maggie will grow up to be much more than a pet. She may never be able to go into stasis. "

  If she couldn't, then she wouldn't be of any use to the OIA. Which, considering the way gargoyles were forced to live when they went Earthside, was probably the best thing that could happen to her. Some gargoyles, especially those with lower intelligence, didn't possess the ability to freeze-frame.

  Chase blinked when a loud snore cut through the air from Maggie's box. "She sounds a little like a cat, a little like a pig. "

  "They snuffle when they're happy. " I glanced at the clock. "Time to wake Menolly. We have plans to make. "

  "Just so long as we find Tom Lane before Bad Ass Luke does," Delilah said.

  "And just so long as we find him before Bad Ass Luke finds us," I said. Neither she nor Chase had much of an answer to that.

  * * *

  CHAPTER 9

  Menolly stretched, shaking her braids to a loud clatter. "So what's on the agenda tonight?" She shimmied into skintight jeans and a cami top, giving me a toothy grin. Her fangs glistened in the dim light, and once again, I found myself a little queasy. She looked at me. "What happened with Trillian? Is he back in your life?"

  I leaned back on her bed. "Yeah, I'm weak. So sue me. "

  "Couldn't you just find one of our cousins to hook up with? Or even a vampire? I know several lesser vamps that aren't too objectionable. " Her eyes twinkled, and I knew she was teasing me.

  "Yeah, I need an undead lover just about as bad as I need another hole in my… head. Speaking of vamps, you got a call from Wade. I think somebody's smitten," I said, teasing her.

  "You're kidding. He called here?" She did her best to look pissed, but I could tell she was interested. An excited light flickered in her eyes, and she was trying to hide a smile.

  "I see that grin, so don't try to bluff me, because you can't. You gave him your number, so you were obviously interested. Now, come on, there's a lot to fill you in on. Chase and I took out the harpy today, but not before she killed both Louise Jenkins and an exiled Faerie. "

  Menolly followed me upstairs, glancing at Chase as she took a seat opposite him. I introduced her to Maggie, and she seemed surprisingly delighted, holding the little gargoyle in her arms with a tender smile flickering at the corners of her lips. While she snuggled Maggie, Chase and I launched into what had happened with Rina and the harpy.

  "We enlisted a Corpse Talker, and I asked Rina how to find Tom. "

  "What did she tell you?" Menolly asked.

  "A riddle. 'He's mad as a hatter, mad as a hare. Go to the woodland, but be you aware. Look for the ancients who shelter from storm, but first you must pass through the lair of the wyrm. ' If you can figure out what it means, be my guest. "

  "Wyrm?" Delilah frowned. "Dragon?"

  "No dragons around the Pacific Northwest as far as I know," I said. "Of course, OIA also told us that the demons would never break through onto Earth. "

  Menolly snorted. "The OIA has been sloppy on a number of things lately. I agree with Delilah. Best guess is that a dragon of some sort's hanging out there. Possibly he's protecting this Tom?"

  I groaned. A dragon was so not what we needed. Generally selfish and greedy, they made wonderful mercenaries and were nearly impossible to kill. If Tom had hired one to protect him—or somebody hired the wyrm for him—then we were going to have a fight on our hands. And considering the state of our little ragtag band, I knew that none of us had what it took to take on a dragon.

  "Okay, so let's call that roadblock number one," I said. "I wonder if Bad Ass Luke and the Psycho Babbler know about this. The question is, how do we find Tom? He's supposed to be living near Mount Rainier, either on the edge of the national park's borders, or hiding within. "

  "It's too late to drive out there tonight, and the roads are going to be difficult—parts of the park are already closed for the winter. Tomorrow we'll make the trip," Chase said. "Delilah, can you help me do some sleuthing on him before then? We can go through everything at my office. Then tomorrow, we'll meet here before heading out. I'll drive. Say we get started around eight tomorrow morning?"

  "Sounds good," Delilah said. "Now, do you want to hear everything that happened at Louise Jenkins's apartment? As I said, the harpy was a step ahead of us there, too. Actually several steps. Louise was a mess. She'd been dead long enough for rigor mortis to set in, so the harpy may have gotten to her before she stopped at Rina's. I searched the apartment but found nothing. I took a long look at Louise, or at what remained of her, that is. " She winced and shook her head. "Bloody, terribly bloody. Anyway, I noticed there was a ring on her finger. Gold and diamond. "

  "Wedding finger?" I asked.

  "You got it. I wonder if Jocko married her and conveniently forgot to tell the OIA. They would have kicked him out for that. "

  "Or maybe they were engaged," Menolly said slowly. "I remember several times he mentioned that he was getting used to life Earthside, and how it wasn't so bad. He was respected because of his size here. Back in OW, he was ridiculed for being so short. "

  I turned to Delilah. "Did you notice anything else? Pictures? Anything to give us a clue of what kind of a connection Louise and Jocko had?"

  Delilah squinted, thinking. After a moment, she said, "Her apartment was trashed, so I couldn't make out much about what she was like. No pictures that I could see, but I didn't want to disturb the scene any more than necessary. "

  Menolly snapped her fingers. "Wait a second. Jocko had a diary. I saw him writing in a journal a few weeks ago. It was small, with a drawing of… it looked like an antique map on the cover. Did you find anything like that in his room when you searched it after he was murdered?" She turned to Chase, who looked surprised.

  "No. Not at all. In fact, it barely looked like he lived there. I was surprised that giants could be so clean. Could the diary be at the bar? An undercover OIA team member searched his office, but I don't remember anything like that in the evidence they brought back. By the way, has Camille told you about your promotion?"

  Blinking, Menolly shook her head. "Promotion? What are you talking about?" Then understanding flooded her face, and her pale skin glowed even brighter. "Oh crap and hell. They've put me in charge of the bar, haven't they?"

  "You got it," Chase said. "So I guess you have to go back to work tonight. While you're there, take a look around and find out if the diary is hidden behind the bar. Take Camille with you, and both of you be careful—if there's an inside man, we haven't
found him yet. And if he knows you're an agent, you could be in a lot of danger. "

  "Chase is right," I broke in. "Only Jocko knew that we're sisters, so I can just be a local bookstore owner, out for a drink. Then, tomorrow, we'll drive out to Mount Rainier. Okay, Chase and Delilah, get busy with your research. Two heads are better than one. Just ask any dubba-troll. "

  Delilah glanced at Maggie. "What about her?"

  "She should be okay until I get home. She's sound asleep. "

  "Okay. Get your butt in gear, Chase. "

  Chase broke into a smile. "My pleasure. Just don't go shifting on me when I'm not prepared for it. "

  I waved my hand. "Get out of here, both of you. If there's trouble, call me on my cell phone. "

  Once they left, I hurried upstairs and slipped on a tight, thigh-high black leather skirt, then laced up my new magenta and black bustier, jiggling so my boobs were ready to bust out. I slid my feet into a pair of round-toed pumps with four-inch stiletto heels and twirled in front of the mirror. Woo-hoo, good enough to eat!

  We needed all the information we could get. If there was an inside person at the bar, they wouldn't talk to Menolly, but they might talk to me. Especially if I turned on the charm.

  I wrapped a velvet stole around my shoulders and cautiously descended the stairs, careful to avoid catching my heels on the numerous cracks that split the wood.

  Menolly glanced up at me as I entered the kitchen. Her jaw dropped, and she coughed. "Damn good thing Trillian isn't here to see you. I'd never get you out of the bedroom. "

  "You may have that trouble soon enough. I just can't get him out of my system. So, you ready?"

  "Whenever you are. " She held up the keys to her truck.

  "I'll take my car. If we're seen entering together, whoever's working on the inside might get suspicious. " I made sure I had everything and nodded toward the door. "After you. " And we headed out into the stormy night.

  The Wayfarer was rocking as usual. It had real Otherworld feel—the lights were fashioned to look like kerosene lamps, and the decor appeared rustic on the surface but was polished when you looked closely. Long benches and tables served the crowds, as well as booths for private parties. In addition to the standard beer and wine, the bartender kept a few goodies such as Cryptozoid Ale and Brownie Beer behind the bar, all pricey and in high demand.

  A staircase ran along the back wall, leading up to two floors of rooms that were always full. The portal itself was secreted in the basement, and an OIA agent was on guard night and day to process the passports of those entering from OW. It was where we'd first made our appearance Earthside.

  Menolly was in full swing at the bar. The lights were dim, and she was working like crazy. The crowd of subculture FBHs who thronged to the bar loved the fact that she was a vampire, though they kept a respectful distance, except for the few who were hung up on the mystique of vamp lore.

  While acceptance of the undead was still sorely lacking, things were slowly changing, although their reputation hadn't been helped by all the horror movies and vamps who loved to play up the whole ooo-spooky image. Dracula, for instance, had been a resident of OW, and during his deportation to the Subterranean Realms, he managed to escape and to flee Earthside before the guards could stop him. He'd single-handedly destroyed potential relations between vamps and humans for hundreds of years.

  I wandered up to the counter and pushed through the crowd. Women dressed so skimpy they made me look like a nun clustered in groups at the tables, alert for any sign of Sidhe men who might wander through. They weren't Faerie Watchers though. No, the Faerie Watchers Club preferred to focus on the magic and sparkles and unicorns. These women were looking for a party and maybe a little more. They called themselves Faerie Maids and a few—usually the most interesting—had enough success that they'd become addicted to sex with the Sidhe. Gods only knew what they'd do if they ever slept with a Svartan.

  The women weren't the only ones looking for a little action. Several men wandered through the bar, but most of them knew they didn't have a chance in hell. Menolly told me they picked up the women who were left sitting alone at the end of the night. It was sad, really, but overall, very few of the Sidhe paid any attention to the open invitations.

  I slid onto a stool, glancing around. Here and there, I spotted another Faerie or two. Even a few Weres were hanging around the outskirts of the room—you could tell them from the gleam in their eyes. They met my gaze, and some nodded, a few gave me a half wave, acknowledging our common roots.

  Where should I start? A tingle in the back of my neck alerted me, and I turned around. In the corner booth, I spotted a young man. He looked Japanese, but a glamour around him caught my attention.

  "A glass of white wine," I murmured to Menolly when she finally made her way over to me. "And who's that? Over there in the booth?"

  She glanced at the man as she set the Riesling down in front of me. In a whisper, she said, "I've never seen him in here before tonight. I can tell you, he didn't come over from OW. He smells like a demon, but I'd bet my fangs that he's not from the Subterranean Realms. "

  I sipped my wine and slowly pushed myself off the stool, strolling over to the booth. As I approached, the man looked up, and I saw that he wasn't quite as young as I thought. His face was smooth and unlined, but his eyes were far older than twenty-something. I leaned against the wall separating his booth from the next one.