Blood Sport (The American Arcane Book 2) Page 15

  “I've got to wonder how he even got it.” Foy said. “The Faeries don't have a presence in California. Hell, I didn't even know they were active these days.”

  “Probably a rogue.” Nick sighed. “Well, Eric, you're getting deputized for the next six hours. I need you to find a Faerie.”

  I froze. “Wait, what? You can do that?”

  He shrugged. “Posse rules. I need a witch to track blood. If it's in that Bliss, we need to find the source. That means the Other Side.”

  Foy and I both froze. The Other Side, which I had visited once previously, was a place beyond the earthly plane. The place I had seen was a large city, where I had made my first kill as a Knight, and where mysterious spirits roamed.

  “Sir,” Foy spoke softly. “We can't just go to the Other Side. The Faeries-”

  “Are screwing with US soil, and giving drug dealers Faerie blood to make narcotics.” Nick gestured to Foy. “Get Mariano down to Modesto PD, then get back here. With any luck, we'll be in the Other Side, and we'll need you to make sure we're all right when we get out.”

  “Yes, Sir.” Foy nodded, and he hefted the were up. “Come on, Mariano. We're going to go on a ride.” He grinned and he yanked at the bulky were, and dragged him through the hallway out the front door.

  Nick turned back to me. “Time for some of that voodoo you do so well, Mister Carpenter. Kitchen, now.”

  “Wait, just a minute.” I crossed my arms. “Nick, Amy told me that the Other Side was a dangerous place, and I'm not exactly too keen on returning.”

  “That's hardly a choice we have right now.” Nick said. “I want to get this guy, and a witch is the best shot we have at getting there.”

  “So, you can teleport, but not cross dimensions?” I snorted. “Well, learn something new every day. So, you're going to teach me how to open a door.”

  “It's actually relatively simple.” He remarked. “Kitchen, now.”

  I followed him into the kitchen. “Listen, what are we even going to do when we get there?”

  “Well, if you do this right, the blood in the Bliss will take us straight to the Faerie it came from.” He said.

  “And what about the spooky shades? I'm sure those were totally factored into your travel plans.” I leaned against the counter in the kitchen, next to the drug-filled chemistry set.

  “If we don't kill anything, the shades won't come for us.” Nick stated. “Now, we need salt.” He said, and he started to look through the cupboards.

  “Why is it always salt?” I sighed, and started to look through the cupboards near me as well. I found a canister of salt and pulled it out.

  Nick shrugged. “It has properties conducive to magic. The opposite of silver, actually. Now, make a circle.”

  I started to pour it into a large circle. “I know how to do a spell, Nick.” I grunted.

  “Really? From the lack of arson reports in San Francisco concerning you, I was inclined to think otherwise.”

  “Oh, don't even start.” I shot back. “I don't know why, but I can't do much physical magic. The only time was when I pushed Lucien in the Other Side.” I didn't think I would mention the press conference from yesterday. Not quite yet.

  “There is more magic in the Other Side, and you were emotionally motivated at the time. Magic stems from emotion, passion, energy, and your ability to control it.”

  I sighed as I sat down in the circle of salt I had poured, folding my legs underneath me. “I need a sample of the blood.”

  I watched as Nick grabbed a turkey baster from a drawer and got a few drops of the Bliss. He set it in front of me. “Ah, low budget witchcraft. It's been a while since I've done a spell.”

  “When was the last time?” I asked, keeping my voice soft as I thought about how to proceed. “Get me a bowl or something.”

  He stood and started to look through the cabinets. He found a small bowl and set it in front of me. “Thirty years ago, perhaps?” He shrugged. “In the eighties. Your mother, but that's unrelated to what's at hand. What else do you need?”

  “At the moment, silence.” I closed my eyes and focused myself for a long moment. I waited, kept myself concentrating on the flow of magic around me. Once I found the rhythms, the natural magic around me, I opened my eyes. I drew my knife, and drew it across my thumb. Blood welled on the pad of my finger, and I winced at the feel of silver, burning across my skin, a hot sting.

  I dropped the knife and picked up the baster. I squired its contents into the bowl, then I put my thumb over the bowl. Several drops fell, and I watched as they fell into and dissolved into the clear drug. I reached into my tactical vest, and I pulled out a bandage, taping up my thumb quickly.

  The scene before me was like a tracking spell, the first I'd ever learned. I used the same values I'd learned then. I placed my hand over the bowl that had the Bliss and my own blood. Energy moved around me, like wind that passed beyond walls and doors.

  Mentally, I wrapped magic around my left hand, visualizing the coils of energy moving through my palm. I thrust my right hand forward, placing the hand over the bowl. I let the magic seep from my hand, rolling into the bowl in soft waves.

  Slowly, images started to seep into my head. A house, stone walls and floor, with rugs all over them. I kept my focus on it, and I reached. I opened my eyes, and saw the sliver of gray light. A grin of victory crossed my features. There it was, the door to the other side.

  The sliver grew larger, more expansive, as I pushed more energy into it. It grew to the size of a dinner plate, then a beach ball. The light continued to grow, and by the time it was the size of a person, Nick had a small predatory grin.

  “Well, Mister Carpenter, that's quite impressive.” He said. He offered a hand to me. “It should stay open until you come through. We'll open a new door back when we're over there. You would be too stressed holding it open.”

  I nodded. “Right. Do this often?” I took his hand and stood up, brushing myself off.

  “Hopping dimensions?” His eyes twinkled with mischief. “Not as often as I used to. Now, before we go, did you bring the bullets I gave you?”

  “Of course.” I held up two mags from my vest. “Iron bullets on demand. Want me to load them?”

  “Only if I tell you to. Remember, we don't want to kill anything once we're over there. The shades...”

  I shuddered as I remembered the shades of the Other Side. The alien creatures still sent shivers through me. “Right. Iron bullets only if necessary.” I took a step towards the portal. “You go first.”

  “Sure thing, Mister Carpenter.” He smirked, and he ducked his head a little to step through. Just like that, Nick was gone.

  I could feel the flow of energy, still drawing from me, as I was still drawing from the magic and feeding it into the door. I lowered my shoulder, and closed my eyes. “Let's face it, Eric, you're not exactly aiming for senior benefits.” I walked through the portal, even if I didn't know what was waiting on the Other Side.

  Chapter 19

  I didn't know Nick wouldn't move his stupidly firm body from the portal after he had exited. This kind of crap didn't happen in Stargate. My head collided with the back of Nick's shoulders, and the strange man wheeled around, grabbing me in a tight grasp. I could feel a blade at my back, poking at me but not piercing.

  “Why, Mister Carpenter, we must stop meeting like this.” He took a step back, and drew his hand away from me. He had a broad, leaf-shaped blade in his hand, a look I couldn't quite place. “Draw your knife.”

  I drew my knife, which drew an approving nod from Nick. After that, a survey of the room was in order. We had come out into the house in my vision. The house was compact. A dull gray stone formed the floor, walls, and ceiling. Red and brown rugs covered the floor, and the fireplace along one wall had several chairs facing it. They reminded me of Roman lounges, designed to lie across. Stairs, again stone, led down to another floor, and there were two wooden doors across from the fireplace.

  “So, we're in the Othe
r Side,” I said, more a statement than a question My voice was hushed. If we were dealing with our blood donor, we had to be on our guard.

  He nodded, and his face twisted in thought as he thought about what I assumed our options were. “Search the house.” He ordered in hushed tones.

  Nick took a step towards one of the doors, and I moved to one side of the frame. Nick took the other, and he reached across, grabbing the door, handle and slowly depressing the handle. The lock clicked, and he slowly pushed the door open.

  I peeked my head inside. A table, wood, easily ten feet by five, sat in the middle of the room. It was surrounded by trays with tools on them, metal and ornate. The lavender soiling of the tools let me draw my gaze away from the horrid scene on the table for just a moment.

  A man lay on the table. He looked human, but a twisted joke of one. His ears were long, the tips and lobes both pointed. The eyes were large, dark pools, with no iris or whites. It was a Fae, I realized. His skin had a greenish hue, but I couldn't tell if that was from decomposition, the blood loss I assumed it would have suffered from its lacerations across its thin chest, or just natural.

  I took several steps towards the table. “Nick,” I whispered. “I...” The energy of the blood was still fresh, flowing through my body. I could feel it, the connection to the magic I had so recently drawn on and used. “I think that's our donor.”

  The Marshal was silent for a long moment. I didn't even realize he had stepped to my side before he spoke. “He was a prisoner. A lab monkey. Crap.” He examined the table, and he reached out. He lifted up a set of leather bonds. “Someone restrained him. Drained him.”

  “What do we do with him?” My voice was softer than I had intended. The sweet smell of our target-now-victim reached my stomach. It was unfamiliar, but it still rolled the stomach.

  “You will tell me why you are here.” The voice didn't come from Nick. Both Nick and I looked for the source of the voice. I crouched slightly, and I held my knife at the ready.

  Nick mimicked my motion, and he spoke. “We are investigating a crime.” He said. “It led us to another.”

  “You trespass.” In front of me, I saw the air ripple. I frowned. It was bending the light. A cloaking. I reached out with my senses, and could feel it.

  I felt my probes buffeted back, like a telepathic whiplash. My eyes shot wide open, and a sting flashed through my body, settling on my recent wound and flaring the nerves. “Nick...” I gasped.

  “Mister Carpenter,” Nick moved in front of me, placing himself between me and...it. “I am Nick. I come here in accord with the Treaty of Haunts. I represent the mortal government of the Unit-”

  “I know who you are, and your treaties, bright one.” The voice seemed to slide around the room, like the source was moving in separate directions. One second I could hear it coming from my left, another behind me, then in front. Nick shifted with the voice. “But this is my home and work place.”

  I rose up, shaking away the pain. “You're the one giving the blood to the mortals.” I said.

  “What an accusation.” The voice said. I could feel a cold, dark energy, sliding up my arm. I jabbed at it with my other, swatting my own arm with my bare hand in the process. “Oh, this witchling is feisty. Tell me, bright one, is he yours?”

  I saw Nick stiffen. “He is not my property, but he is under my protection. Who are you?”

  The voice considered for a moment. It seemed to ponder for a long moment about the question. A hiss escaped the creature. “Oh, but you know better than to ask this question. Names are rather powerful, bright one.”

  “What are you?” I asked.

  “Mister Carpenter, you can't just ask invisible voices what they are.” Nick hissed.

  The voice slithered right around to behind my ear. It spoke softly, like a lover's whisper. “I acquire. I deliver. I give people things they want, and acquire things that I might profit from.”

  I considered this a moment. “You're a fence.” I murmured.

  “Fence. I like that. You may call me...Fence.” The voice seemed happy with that. “A temporary name that suits the purposes of conversation.”

  “Very well, Fence. I am to assume that you supplied the blood to the shifters who are making narcotics.” Nick turned to face me, and took a few steps back. “We have to put an end to that.”

  “There is no reason for me to.” Fence's voice was right at my ear again. “It is a very profitable venture.” I felt the cold touch of Fence's presence right on my shoulder. It started to slide against me, and I felt a cold shiver start at my shoulder, spreading out to my spine and arm.

  I spun around, slashing with a wide swipe of the knife. I found nothing there. “Nick, tell me what it is so I can fight it. Is this a Fae?”

  A cackle came from my shoulder. I spun around again, and this time found myself face to face with Nick. “I am no Fae.” The voice spat, this time seemingly coming from the shadows.

  The shadows forming Fence started to coalesce into a single shape. It was vaguely humanoid, eight feet tall, with batches of several long tentacles for arms. The room wasn't well-lit enough for me to make out any real features beyond that.

  “Nick...” I whispered. “What is this?”

  “A daemon, Mister Carpenter.” Nick's voice was soft, growling. “A spirit.”

  “Daemon?” I repeated. “Like, a Satan, hell, brimstone demon?”

  “No, it's Greek. Spirit. It's not necessarily good or evil. But it shares the Other Side with the Fae and others.” Nick explained. “They usually avoid direct confrontation.”

  Fence leaned down, stretching its long arms in a threatening gesture. “But when the opportunity arises to hunt, well, I certainly do like to make new acquisitions.”

  “How do we hurt it, Nick?” Shivers ran down my spine. I could feel the temperature start to plummet, like Fence was sucking the heat out of the room.

  Nick looked between me and Fence before answering. “We're in the daemon's domain. We need to get out of here. It's got power here.” He flipped his knife into a reverse grip. “We run.”

  “We run?” I looked back to Nick. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.” Both of us turned and hurried straight for the door of the laboratory. Neither of us had thought to close it, and it was still wide open.

  Nick barreled through the door, and I was straight behind him. I was half-way through the door when I felt it slam on me. The wind was knocked straight from my gut, and pain blossomed across my entire torso. I fell down into the opening my body wedged between the door and the frame. “Crap!”

  “Carpenter!” Nick shoved his wide frame against the door, pushing at it. When I felt it budge just a moment, a strong arm grabbed me by the shoulder of my Kevlar vest, and dragged me from the door. “Come on, get up.”

  The dull ache of the door's collision still pounded through me. I brought myself up to my knees. “Nick, how do I fight this? We can't just run if it's going to go all haunted house on us.”

  The Marshal helped me up to my feet. I reached down to pick up my knife, which I had dropped on the initial hit. “Silver will work if it's a direct hit, but it's only partially corporeal. Iron can slow it down if you get enough of it into it. Magic is most effective, because that transcends the physical.”

  “You're saying our best bet is for me to try and hit him with magic.” I repeated. “Damn.” I looked towards the stairs. I had no clue where they went, but it was better than here. “We run.” With just a few steps, we were at the stone stairs. I rushed down them, feeling the cool touch of the walls as I used them for a brace to correct my less-than-stable walk.

  I could feel Nick right on my trail as a large boom sounded from upstairs. I imagined that was Fence blasting the door open. “Hurry, Mister Carpenter,” Nick hissed. “He doesn't sound too happy.”

  “Who got hit with the freaking hardwood door here?” I snapped back. The bottom of the stairs led us to a common area, with chairs arranged around a table. The air started
to drop temperature again, and I spun around to see the shadows that were Fence filling the staircase.

  It was now or never. If I couldn't save my skin in the Other Side, magic was never going to come to me. I let all that emotion flow into me for a half-second. Fear, pain, fury. I thrust a hand forward towards the shadow, and just let loose with the magic gathered in my body, no magic words.

  I could feel the back blast of the telekinetic force I had unleashed. White light flashed from my hand, and slammed into Fence. It knocked the shadows back, sending it up the staircase, retreating from the light.

  The use of the magic burned through my body, as I hadn't taken time to gather any from the environment. A mixture of exhaustion and excitement. “Nick!” I shouted. “I did it!”

  “Great, Mister Carpenter, but let's get going!” The Marshal grabbed me by the vest again. “It's stunned. We've got to get out of here.”

  We headed through the common area to what was obviously the front door. The windows on that wall showed a stony road outside, and I was ready for anything other than Fence. This time, I took the lead. I crossed the room in a sprint and yanked open the door.

  The first time I had been in the Other Side, I had come into an open street with buildings on either side. What we came out to seemed to be a variation on that theme. Instead of a single open street, the door led out onto a walk way that led to a street which branched off in two directions. On every side of us, there were stone buildings stretching up and down, like a huge labyrinth of cityscape. There were people, Fae, I supposed, walking along the streets. Their elegant bodies moved gracefully through the light crowds. I could even see a few merchants' stalls, selling food and clothes and other wares.

  “Nick. I have no idea where we are!” I called back to him as I saw him rushing out the door.

  He slammed the door behind him, and held on it, before looking around. “Well. Wonderful.” He grunted.

  “Where are we, Nick, and why does the Other Side look like Blade Runner meets Dungeons and Dragons?” I sheathed my knife, not trying to cause a scene for the Fae.