17. Chapter 17
Danzig
Because Bec rode behind Marduk to brunch, she switched to riding behind me as we made our way to the address. Now that her small body was pressed to my back and her arms were holding onto my waist, I understood why Marduk had been feeling such an intense sense of satisfaction.
When I took the freeway off-ramp with a little speed and lean angle, she clung tighter to me and made a happy, excited sound. I couldn't wait to take her riding in the mountains. She would love it.
There were going to be so many experiences we could expose her to, especially after she took the bite and was bound to our magic. I couldn't wait.
I had my phone secured in a mount next to my instrument cluster.
It led us to the address using a mapping app, but the closer we got, the more I didn't like what I saw.
The neighborhood was full of empty and boarded-up houses.
The brand-new housing development next to it made me think this place was next for demolition and rebuilding.
This was where teenagers went to drink and make out, drug addicts looked for temporary housing, or someone created an opportunity for kidnapping or thievery. This wasn’t the type of place where legitimate transactions happened between individuals.
One question kept running through my head: How had Bec gotten all wrapped up in this? I knew Hugo started it, but as much as we all loved that dog, there was no way all of this was going on because of him.
I rolled past the house and continued on until the end of the street. When I pulled over, Marduk stopped next to me.
“It’s that brown house,” I said.
“Why here?” Bec asked.
“Because this is an ambush,” Marduk said with conviction. “We should leave.”
“No, we can’t leave,” she protested. She wiggled off my bike, as if she didn’t trust me to stay put, then tugged at her helmet strap.
The D-ring closure could be tricky for new riders, and we had our helmets off long before she did. After she let me undo her helmet for her, she held it in one hand and looked over at the house.
“I still haven't heard back from Gale,” she stated, brows furrowed in worry. “What if she's being held against her will and needs to be rescued. We have to check.”
“We can call the human authorities,” I suggested. “Tell them we saw someone doing something illegal. They’d go in there and check for us.”
“But how long would that take?” Bec asked and gestured to the graffiti on almost all the houses. “They probably get complaints about this neighborhood all the time. What if they only drive by and don’t even look inside? She could be dying in there while we’re talking!”
I could appreciate my mate's concern for a fellow human, but this screamed danger. Marduk seemed to have a reasonable idea.
“Let me check around the house,” he said. “I’m better at sensing magic than Danzig. I should be able to feel for traps.”
“Traps?” Bec asked, turning to face him.
“Yes, magic traps that age you into a mummy and then dust,” Marduk answered.
She made a face. “Oh, yeah, those kinds of traps.”
I didn’t like the idea of any of us going near that place.
“Maybe we should wait until dark and call in a few vampires," I suggested. “Tobias owes me a massive favor, and Kimble owes Tobias a favor. I could call both of those in and have them go into the house. Vampires wouldn’t be affected by a death spell.”
Marduk nodded. “Good thought. Those two are powerful.”
Bec made an aggravated sound and hung her helmet on the side mirror of Marduk’s bike. “It’s hours until nightfall! We aren’t waiting that long.”
With that said, she turned and marched down the cracked sidewalk toward the house.
“Bec, no,” I said, rushing past her to stand in her way.
Marduk was right next to me. “I’ll go in, you stay here with Danzig.”
Bec’s scowl disappeared. “Thank you.”
“Thank me by doing as I ask,” Marduk said. “Stay here, no matter what you might hear. If there's no danger I'll come back out and get you.”
I grabbed hold of his wrist. I’m coming in if I feel anything go wrong with you.
Guard Bec, I can take care of myself, he grumbled, then shot me a shit-eating grin. Besides, I'm a better warrior than you.
You wish, I said and let go of his wrist.
He gave Bec a last look, as if trying to warn her not to do something stupid, then turned on his heel and walked to the house with long, confident strides.
A bad feeling built in my chest as we watched him disappear around the side of the house. Only three seconds after we couldn’t see him any longer, Bec started shifting from foot to foot and grasping her hands tightly together.
“We should follow him,” Bec said.
“No, we wait here,” I said, ready to grab her if she tried anything.
“I feel bad,” she said. “This whole thing is my mess. Neither of you should be here. If Marduk gets hurt it’ll be my fault.”
I felt a zig of awareness come from Marduk. “He’s found something."
“What?” she asked, grabbing my hand in both of hers.
“I don’t know, but it's something he wasn't expecting.”
Marduk's shout of surprise hit my ears at the same time I felt a flash of shock, then pain.
“Stay!” I barked at Bec and rushed to the house. I don’t know why I bothered because Bec followed right behind me.
I knew I was taking her into danger, but I couldn’t stay back if Marduk was in trouble. He was a competent warrior and a powerful J?rmungandr, but he was also my twin. I couldn’t ignore the sensation of pain coming from him.
“At least stay behind me,” I said as we rushed around the side of the house. It was overgrown and partially blocked by a falling fence. Too impatient to squeeze past that point, I grabbed hold of a section of fence, ripped it apart and tossed it away.
With that out of the way, I charged into the backyard. I skidded to a halt when I found Marduk. He was standing still, facing off with an unfamiliar figure.
To a human, they probably looked like they were simply staring at each other, but I could feel the power battering at Marduk’s natural magical barrier. Some of his aura had already been stripped off. I'd never seen any magic do that so quickly.
“Stay back!” I yelled at Bec. I could only hope she obeyed.
With a roar, I launched myself at the stranger. Pain enveloped me as I tackled him. We landed on the rotting back porch, falling through it in a cloud of dust and dirt. Somehow, I ended up on the bottom, and the weight of the stranger drove all the air out of my lungs.
Pain and the fall made me disoriented enough that I wasn’t able to grab hold as the figure scrambled off me and back onto the part of the porch that was still whole.
Damn it!
I stood up in time to see Marduk land a mighty blow, sending the man flying against the wall of the house. The stucco cracked and the wall buckled so he ended up half in the house with his feet outside.
Marduk was quick to stumble to me. “Danzig?”
The last of the pain caused by touching the stranger was gone, but I was coughing from the dust.
“I’m fine,” I gasped.
“Get away from them!” Bec screamed. We both looked to find that the man was free of the wall and was standing up with one hand extended, holding a band about the size of a dog's collar in both hands.
His lips were moving, and I got a whiff of something powerful.
Whatever spell he was about to unleash on us was strong.
I could smell death on it.
His blue eyes gleamed with malice, and his thin lips were pulled back tightly as he mumbled the words.
We had seconds to get Bec away.
Without hesitation, Marduk grabbed me by the back of the jacket and lifted me out of the broken section of porch, tossing me ahead of him.
I landed on my feet, and we both ran at Bec, except she wasn’t staying still. Instead of running away as she should be doing, she stepped closer.
No, she wasn’t stepping, she was pitching. Her hand swung forward so fast it was a blur and the rock went flying at the stranger. I heard a cry of pain, but I could also still smell the death magic.
I didn’t look back. I grabbed Bec, tossed her over my shoulder, and kept going. There was a brilliant flash of light at our backs and then I felt a magic bubble forming behind us.
“Move!” Marduk roared, completely unnecessarily. I knew we needed to be out of range when that thing burst!
I saw things breaking and crumbling around us as we ran.
We didn't stop once we’d cleared the house. We kept running until there was a street between us and the house. Then we stopped and turned in unison to face the danger.
I set Bec down and pushed her behind us as the house collapsed in on itself with a massive crashing sound. The scent of death was strong, but I couldn’t tell if someone had died or if it was coming from the magic he'd used.
After the dust cleared, the house was nothing but a pile of rubble. The houses on either side were mostly collapsed as well.
I didn’t see the stranger anywhere.
“Where did he go?” Bec asked, stepping around to stand next to me.
I shook my head as I scanned the surrounding areas. I didn’t see an aura anywhere, and this guy had one so bright it would show up easily even in broad daylight.
It was the first time I’d seen an aura of that color: muddy brown and sickly yellow with a neon green woven in. It was a disturbing combination.
“Do you think he portaled?” Marduk asked. “It’s an old skill, but some of the druids can still do it.”
“And demons,” I reminded him. “But that guy wasn't a demon. I think he used the void to travel,” I said. I had a bad feeling I knew what this guy was.
“No,” Marduk said, shaking his head with incredulity. “He couldn’t be using the void.”
“Look at the house,” I said.
Marduk focused on the heap of debris that was rapidly going from chunks of wood, shingles, and stucco to powder.
“Is it…is it aging?” Bec asked, stepping out from behind me.
“Yes, I think so,” I said. “It’s rapidly deteriorating, like the bodies.”
“It has to be a casket druid,” Marduk said.
I grunted in agreement. This was bad.
“What’s a casket druid?” Bec asked.
“We should get out of here, I’ll explain as we ride,” I said, picking her up and heading to the bikes. I could feel Marduk’s silent agreement.
It was time to leave. Not only would the noise and collapse draw human attention and authorities, but if the casket druid was using the void to travel, it would be easy for him to pop back into existence right on top of the destroyed house.
The only safe thing was to put some distance between us and him and hope he couldn’t track auras.
Bec didn’t argue and soon we were back on the road and speeding south in the direction of her condo with her clinging to me.
“Talk,” Bec demanded, the impatience in her voice clear through the speakers in my helmet. “What’s a casket druid?”
“Most druids harvest naturally occurring magic,” Marduk said. “They form groups and will work together to imbue an object with magic for a specific task or purpose. It’s a low-risk way to gather power.”
“So a casket druid does what, steals cadavers or something?" Bec asked, then she gasped. “Does he kill people to get power? Is that what happened to Leif and the other two people?"
“No, blood druids are a whole separate group, and they aren’t any more powerful than regular druids. They’re simply psychopaths that like killing,” I said.
“Right, no humans needed. Then how does a casket druid get his power?” she pressed.
“They collect powerful objects and use them in spells,” Marduk said. “Some animals are focal points for void magic.”
Bec made an aggravated sound. “What does that even mean?”
“Think of it like radiation,” I said. “Some things emit radiation, some things absorb it. The void is constantly emitting magic. Things like rhinoceros horns and elephant tusks absorb void magic so they have a high concentration in them.”
“Does that mean casket druids gather those things and use them to create magic?” Bec asked.
“Exactly,” Marduk said. “They’re powerful for as long as they possess the material. But each spell they cast burns up a lot of whatever they have prepared.”
“Do French bulldogs have a lot of magic in them?” she asked.
I snorted. “Not even a little. Hugo’s aura is nothing but a normal dog.”
“Then why did this guy want me to bring him Hugo?” Bec asked, then gasped. “I bet Gale has something he wants so he thinks if he can get Hugo, then he can get what he wants.”
“Maybe,” Marduk said. “If that's the case, then Gale is in danger.”
The next task was obvious. “We need to find Gale.”
“Are you sure she wasn’t in that house?” Bec asked.
“There wasn’t anything with an aura in that house,” I assured her. “There weren’t even bugs inside. Casket druids have a magic stench that drives animals away. All I could see was remnants of his aura in the dust.”
I felt Bec relax a little. “That’s good. It means she’s probably still alive. Oh, that's something I hadn't thought about. How did this druid guy know I had her dog?”
“Another good question,” Marduk said. “I hate all of this.”
“It's so weird," Bec agreed. "Isn't it great! What's our next step?”
“We should find out where Gale lives,” I said. “If she's home, we could get all our questions answered.”
“Take me to Masel Investigations. I’ll be able to find her address from there,” Bec said.
“Hey, we all made it out alive,” I said with a forced chuckle.
“We might’ve made it out alive, but both of you are being punished later,” Marduk grumbled. “Don’t think I didn’t notice how everyone ignored my instructions.”
“We saved your life!” Bec protested.
“I’m your twin, you don’t get to punish me,” I said.
“We’ll see,” Marduk said ominously.