A Brush With Death, Page 8

  Sanders sank into the other, resting his arms on his knees he replied, “Gone. What did you hear?”

  She looked at Sanders. His shirt was open at the collar, and his tie was pulled down a few inches and slightly askew. Thick black bags had taken up residence beneath his eyes, and the wrinkles in his forehead were creased like corrugated iron. He looked how Kasey felt.

  “Was that…” Kasey began. Sanders had spoken the Summer Queen’s name. Had that drawn her here?

  Sanders raised a hand to stop her. “For the love of all that is good, don’t say her name. She’s already mad as hell.”

  Kasey shook her head. Sanders had spoken of her once before, after their training session, but he’d been bound by whatever oaths he had sworn to her. He’d been able to share very little, and what he had shared had not prepared Kasey for this.

  “You were eavesdropping,” Sanders said at last. “Kasey, what have I told you about curiosity? One of these days it could get you killed. Today it almost did.”

  Kasey’s finger shook as she pointed at Sanders. “If you try to put this on me, I’m going to end you. I want answers.”

  Sanders opened his mouth as if testing his lips. When they moved freely, his eyes dropped to the carpet at his feet.

  “The fact that I can, concerns me more than you could know,” he whispered. “The fact she would reveal herself while you were present was a conscious choice on her part. The Queen of Summer does nothing by accident.”

  Kasey shook as a shiver ran through her. She’d never met a supernatural being that felt so innately full of power in her entire life.

  “The Light of Summer herself,” Sanders replied, leaning back in his chair.

  “What was that spell she used? I couldn’t even move.”

  Sanders suppressed a pained laugh. “Not a spell, Kasey. That was her raw will. You couldn’t move because she willed it. What did you do to goad her so?”

  “I heard you groan and tried to open the door. I thought it was a spell, so I tried to force it. She crushed me like I was nothing.”

  Sanders ran his hands through his hair. “Only you would try to pit your will against a being like that.”

  “If I’d known what was going on, I might have sat back and let her kick your ass,” Kasey replied. Her palms were still sweating and she wiped them against her jeans. “Besides, if you told me what was going on, I wouldn't have to take a beat down from a fairy Queen just for dropping by your office.”

  “You already know far more than you should. Your stubborn curiosity is putting you in danger and I am not going to help you get yourself killed,” Sanders said. “And, how could I tell you anything when you've been avoiding me for weeks?”

  “Don't change the subject,” Kasey replied. “We need to talk about what just happened here.”

  Sanders leaned his head on his arm. The poor guy was barely holding himself upright. Kasey felt terrible for giving him a hard time but in the back of her mind she knew it was her best chance to get answers.

  “The Queen has something on you,” Kasey said, more of a statement than a question.

  “No, she doesn't,” Sanders replied.

  “I heard her.”

  “You heard what you wanted to hear. People always do. She doesn't have anything on me. I made a bargain with her. One I cannot break. It's not the same thing.”

  “Looks like a duck, sounds like a duck,” Kasey replied, holding up her hands.

  “If you want to believe the worst about me, that is your choice. I would have thought you knew me better than that by now.” Sanders looked at the ground.

  Kasey felt three feet tall. Sanders had risked his life for her time and again. He was right. He deserved the benefit of the doubt. It was just so hard when he had so many secrets he wouldn't share.

  “I'm sorry, that was low.” Kasey put a hand on his knee. “I'm so used to seeing the very worst in people, that sometimes I carry that habit to those who don't deserve it. It's an occupational hazard. You just have so many secrets.”

  Sanders seemed to cheer up a little. “Everyone does. Sometimes it's for the best. The truth can be dangerous.”

  Sanders yawned, an unusual sign this early in the day. Especially for him.

  “Are you going to tell me why you look like you haven't slept in a week?”

  “That depends,” Sanders replied. “Are you going to tell me why you keep skipping our training sessions?”

  Confronted with the question, Kasey felt pretty petty. Sanders had been spending a lot of time with Talora lately.

  At first, Kasey had presumed they were old friends but the more often she had caught them together, the more skeptical she had become. She had been jealous, but now having overheard the interaction between Sanders and Titania, she was feeling exceptionally foolish. Talora seemed to have been assigned to the Arcane Council to keep an eye on Sanders and ensure his progress on whatever task the fairy Queen had set him. The last thing she wanted to seem was childish.

  “I guess you've been so busy lately, I figured you wouldn't have time for me,” Kasey said, which was half true.

  Sanders nodded. “This is about your friend and the vampires. Strang told me about your request for support from the ADI. None of us knew about the extent of the vampires’ presence, Kasey. If we had, she would have helped. So would I. But we couldn't have the ADI storming a medical facility run by normals. We would have been crucified in the media and our people would pay the price for that. As it is, we are already hearing of conflicts in the wider community. People are not taking the news of our presence well. It seems they would have preferred to live in ignorance. How I wish Akihiro had let things be. His plan may have failed but the damage he has done will be felt for generations.”

  “I came to you before I went to see Strang, but you were busy with Talora.”

  “And so you charged headlong into an ambush that could have got you killed?”

  “I rescued my friend. And I would do it again. I just figured I could count on you, that's all,” Kasey replied, running a hand through her hair.

  “That's not fair,” Sanders replied. “I would do anything to help you, but I am also the Arcane Chancellor. I have responsibilities here. Responsibilities that I did not choose and cannot set aside even if I want to.”

  “I almost died,” Kasey choked. “That thing tried to feed on me. “

  “And nothing upsets me more, Kasey,” Sanders said, his voice steady and measured. “They will pay for that. I promise you.”

  Kasey didn't know what to say. Sanders’ regret seemed genuine. Maybe she had made something out of nothing. Why did relationships have to be so difficult? She wasn't even in one, but she wanted to be and the fact she couldn't get on the same page with Sanders was frustrating her to no end.

  “I was doing it for you,” Sanders whispered. “I was with Talora because I have been trying to work out what happened to your prescience. I have been searching day and night for answers because I don't want you to be vulnerable, but I can't find any explanation in the Archives. So I went to Talora to see what the Fae knew about it. I don't want anything to happen to you. I know that seems ironic given the circumstances but that's what I’ve been doing.”

  Conflicting emotions welled up within Kasey. She felt terrible for bludgeoning him about not being available, when all the while he’d been trying to help her. At the same time, she felt terrible because it confirmed her greatest fears: something was wrong with her, and she didn't know what it was. Even Sanders didn't know, and that thought scared her even more.

  “That's what you've been working yourself into the ground for?” Kasey asked, sitting up straight in her chair.

  “Yes.” He stared at her with those piercing blue eyes. “Unfortunately, Talora thinks I am distracted, which explains the Queen's visit. She wants to put me back on task.”

  “Are you?” Kasey asked. “Distracted?”

  Sanders’ grin made him look a decade younger, at least than he normally appeared. Kase
y had no idea of his exact age on account of the time he had spent in Faerie.

  “Undoubtedly,” he replied.

  “Why?” Kasey asked, leaning toward him.

  “We both know why,” Sanders replied.

  “I want to hear you say it.”

  “I don't want anything to happen to you,” Sanders answered, his evasiveness returning.

  Kasey groaned. “Why can't you just say how you feel?”

  “Because I know what will happen if I do.” His smile faded. “They would hurt us both. Be patient with me.”

  What did that even mean? A thousand questions flooded Kasey's mind, but she could see the pain in Sanders’ face. His eyes glistened as a tear threatened to roll down his cheek.

  “It won't always be like this, Kasey, but I need you to trust me.” Sanders rubbed at his wrist as he spoke, just beneath the prosthetic. Even now, months later, it still caused him pain. Kasey didn't want to cause him any more.

  “I can do that. I just need you to be honest with me.”

  “As much as I can,” he replied. “I've never tried to deceive you but there are things I simply cannot share. Even if I wanted to.”

  Kasey didn't know how to ask so she just blurted it out. “Is there something wrong with me?”

  “No,” Sanders replied, placing a hand on her knee. “Don’t talk like that.”

  “But she said I was tainted,” Kasey whispered.

  “The first thing you have to learn about the Fae is that they do not see the world as we do.”

  When it came to the Fae, Kasey knew nothing but what Sanders had told her. While the creatures could travel through the veil, from the Realm of Spirits to the mortal realm, they tended to do so rarely. They kept to themselves or used glamours or illusions to mask their true identity. Talora was the first Fae she had ever met, and she had hadn’t spoken to her outside of council meetings.

  “What is the second?” Kasey asked, curious.

  Sanders stood up. “You can never take them at their word. They always have their own agenda.”

  “But she seemed to know something,” Kasey protested, rising to her feet.

  “No doubt, but when you deal with the Fae, nothing is free. Every favor given brings obligation. They are not the answer.”

  “What did she mean when she said you couldn’t help me?”

  Sanders turned away, leaning on his desk. “If Talora is right, she believes you can be cured, but it is something you must do for yourself. But that doesn’t mean I can’t help you find out how, which is a perfect example of why you can’t just take what they say at face value. There is a huge difference between me spending my time helping you find a cure, and me actually being able to cure you, but Talora would use one to dissuade me from doing the other. All so that I devote myself to the task the queen has set me. They are shrewd and manipulative. Avoid them, Kasey.”

  “You didn’t,” she replied.

  “I had no choice, and I’ve spent several of your lifetimes questioning the choice I made that day. Do not let them ensnare you.”

  “What makes you think they would want me? Talora doesn’t seem to think very highly of me.”

  “The Queen made herself known to you. That means something. I don’t know what yet, but it was no accident. Be very careful, Kasey.”

  Kasey knew better than to ignore Sanders’ warnings, but that didn’t make it any easier to stomach. Talora knew something. Kasey was sure of it.

  “So what did you want to talk to me about?” Sanders asked, walking over to a small bar fridge. He pulled out a soda and held it up. “Want one?”

  “I’m good, thanks,” Kasey replied. She still hadn’t had breakfast and the thought of something fizzy before she’d eaten made her stomach churn. “I wanted to talk to you about a case that Bishop’s working.”

  Sanders sat in his chair and threw his feet up on the desk before breaking the seal on his soda. “Oh yeah? What about it?”

  “It’s a robbery homicide in Brooklyn. Two perps robbed a store, stole a book, then one of them shot the other and left.”

  Sanders took a sip of his soda. “Sad, but not unusual. Why are you involved?”

  “The store was Casimir’s. He has been buying and selling a lot of supernatural paraphernalia, especially to rich normals.”

  “Mostly cheap trinkets,” Sanders replied. “The ADI have a brief on him.”

  “Not this time,” Kasey replied. “He got his hands on something dangerous. The Libro Sanguis.”

  Sanders pursed his lips. “What is that?”

  “It is a tome on blood magic, very old and potentially dangerous. I’ve been speaking with the Keeper about it.”

  “And it was stolen? From Casimir’s? That’s not good.”

  Kasey leaned on the desk with one hand. “Understatement of the day. It’s from the Repository. It had been stored there for safekeeping.”

  Sanders almost spat out the mouthful of soda he’d been drinking. “What? How?”

  “It appears your predecessor used his clearance to borrow it. I assume he took it home and someone pilfered it from the estate.”

  “Oh, wait,” Sanders began, realization flooding his face. “Not Ainsley, Akihiro.”

  “Yep,” Kasey answered. “Sneaky bastard.”

  “Blood magic, you say?” It took him all of a second to reach the same conclusion she had. He grasped his wrist as he did so. “The solution in the bomb, you think he got that from the tome?”

  “That is my current thinking, yes.”

  “And now some thief has it?” Sanders set down his drink. “Any idea what he wants it for?”

  Kasey laughed. “That’s why I’m here. I was hoping you might know more about it.”

  “I hate to disappoint you, but I know almost nothing about blood magic.”

  “I was worried you were going to say that,” Kasey replied. “Now I’m back to square one.”

  “What can you tell me about the robbery?”

  Kasey showed him the video and filled him in on the morning’s events. When she was through, he shook his head in disbelief.

  “What a mess. We need to get it back. Who knows what else it might contain?”

  She pushed off the desk. “That’s the plan.”

  “You can’t leave. Not with a price on your head.”

  “Got that covered,” Kasey said. “I think it’s time for an old friend to visit. You remember Jenny Kaswell.”

  “Kasey, it’s against the law,”

  “I won’t break your precious rules, relax. Just going to dye my hair and change up my wardrobe. Make it a lot harder to pick me out on the street.”

  “Be careful, Kasey.”

  “Always am,” she replied as she headed for the door.

  Sanders’ sigh conveyed volumes as to his feelings on the matter. “Will you at least tell me where you’re going?”

  Kasey called over her shoulder, “To the one person I know who knows something about blood magic.”

  Chapter Eight

  The Stonemoore residence was a simple home in the outer suburbs of New York City, a two-story house with a white picket fence and an herb garden that occupied most of the front yard.

  Kasey's parents had relocated here from South Dakota after Kasey had left the Academy. They had always been supportive of her decisions even when she chose to leave her birth name behind for the sake of moving on with her life. The last thing Kasey had wanted was to bring the drama she'd endured in the Academy to New York City with her.

  Kasey stepped out of her rideshare and onto the sidewalk in front of the white picket fence. It had been a few weeks since her last visit, a Sunday family dinner with her parents, her older sister Sarah, her husband and two children. Everyone had crammed into the little home on a cold night for a warm roast dinner. The memory made Kasey smile as she lifted the latch and pushed open the white gate.

  She'd been worried that someone might be watching the house, so she'd made the driver circle the block. Her reconnaissa
nce hadn't turned up anything and Kasey put that down to the fact that few people knew about her family and now, with all the attention she had attracted in the media, she was glad she had taken that course.

  She couldn't believe the angry mob that had been waiting for her outside the Ninth Precinct. She desperately hoped that this wasn't going to be her new normal.

  Just to be safe, Kasey had dyed her hair blonde using the same spell she had used while being on the run with Sanders. She had also borrowed a spare suit from the ADI. She had ditched her comfortable leather jacket and jeans, hoping the gunmetal grey of the ADI might throw any pursuers off her trail.

  The front yard of the Stonemoore residence was still coated in three inches of snow. Everything was white, including the raised beds of the herb gardens that her mother kept.

  Kasey trudged up the freshly shoveled path and knocked three times on the front door.

  There was a series of footsteps, before a voice yelled, “Coming!”

  The door swung inward, and her mother stood in the doorway. Her long dark hair was starting to go silver with age, but she had piercing grey eyes that settled on Kasey.

  “Kasey, dear, what are you wearing? And what on earth have you done to your hair?”

  “It's a long story, Mom,” Kasey replied. Her hands were freezing, and she slipped them back into the pockets of her slacks to avoid losing a finger to frostbite.

  Truly winter was her least favorite season in New York City.

  Her mother’s eyebrow rose. “It always is with you, dear. Never mind, come on in before you catch a cold.”

  Her mother shuffled her inside and closed the heavy door behind them. Inside the house it was cozy and warm. A fire burned in the hearth and Kasey wandered into the lounge room to warm her hands by it.

  “Where is your car, dear? I don't see it in the driveway.”

  “Same long story, but that's not why I'm here,” Kasey replied, rubbing her hands together to get the circulation going once more.

  Her mother narrowed her eyes. “It may not be, but I will hear it all the same.”

  There was no avoiding her mother's question. The harder she tried to deflect, the more doggedly her mother would pursue it. So she told her about the ambush at Casimir's, the gnome assassins, and the smoking wreckage that was her new car. She filled her mother in on the bounty that had been placed on her head and everything she knew about the Feudal Court.