20. Your confidence is going to get you bit one of these days. #3
“Only you would boss a divine around and expect results,” Anubis complained. “In this case, you’re getting what you want, but don’t expect that in the future.”
“If you say so,” I replied, picking up my pace and following my trail so I could make my way back to Quinn.
Quinn
I found nothing of use within the main dome of the mining complex, but the auxiliary buildings proved to be a treasure trove of death, destruction, and treachery. Three vats, the kind I recognized as suitable for the mass production of gorgon dust, were filled with a smoking dark fluid.
Within them, I expected to find the bodies of gorgons.
In time, the fluid would turn gray, and as it dried, it would become a chalky dust. A little magic from a live gorgon—or the right chemicals—would finish the process and transform the residual organic matter into a virus capable of transforming a human into a gorgon—one capable of infecting other humans with the virus that would strip victims of their humanity.
The only good news was that none of the vats had turned gray yet; until the color changed, until they reeked of gorgon, the developing dust couldn’t hurt anyone.
Sighing, I trotted through the remaining buildings before returning to the broken fence. “Tiffany, please call Marshal Clemmends. Notify him I’ve found three vats suitable for the production of gorgon dust. The batches aren’t complete yet, but we’re going to need more napalm.”
Tiffany’s brows rose. “More? How many tankers are on the way?”
“Not enough to coat this entire mine, and I don’t know if the pit has any decaying gorgons in it, either.” I sighed. “It’s a pity we’re in a dry state. This would be much more convenient if we had a lot of water on hand.”
“I’ll call him. Are you contaminated?”
“No. I would shift if I were.” I flattened my ears at my unfortunate tendency to shapeshift when exposed to any significant gorgon magics.
“The dust is in development, and I don’t know if the heat from the napalm will finish the batch, so also request a secondary containment shield.
There’s a lot of potential dust in there. ”
Janet stared at me, her eyes narrowing. “Do you think this is related to the 120 Wall Street event?”
“Anything is possible at this point, but I don’t think Winfield became involved until later.
My feeling for him was he was out for revenge over what happened at Wall Street.
It does make me think Audrey was involved; she’d been involved with a live batch of dust when she kidnapped Bailey.
And she’d tried to infect her brother with dust, too.
Is there someone else behind the dust production?
That I can’t tell you. But hopefully this will be the end of it. ”
Janet nodded. “That makes sense. It does make me worried Morriston is involved, however. He would’ve known you married Bailey and that she had been a major player at 120 Wall Street. If he is angling for your job, Winfield would be an ideal accomplice.”
“We could just be creating conspiracy theories, too,” I muttered.
“That’s also true.
“What about the rabies incidents?” Tiffany asked.
“That’s a good question.” I considered the various options, marveling how anyone would treat life as though it were cheap and readily replaced.
“It really depends on what the motive is. Unless there is a mass outbreak, it’s easy to treat humans.
It’s much harder to treat gorgons. Maybe someone’s out to trim the numbers of both species?
If gorgons are easily infected with rabies, humans can be infected with gorgon dust, a large-scale epidemic could be triggered in a very short period of time.
That would leave humans naturally resistant to the gorgon virus as the sole survivors. The cream of the crop, so to speak.”
“That theory is disturbingly sound but ambitious. Neutralizer does mess with gorgon biology,” Tiffany stated. “So it’s harder to cure because the neutralizer isn’t as effective on gorgons. Correct? But it can work; your children are evidence of that. Glass coffins can work on gorgons.”
“Along with divine intervention. The question is this: which divine helped the children?” I shrugged.
“I’ll ask some of my relatives if they can shine some light on this.
My grandfathers have meddled some. The rabies shouldn’t be an issue moving forward, from my understanding of the situation. I hate not knowing.”
“Your job must drive you insane,” Tiffany muttered, shaking her head. “I’ll call that asshole, but I’m expecting special treatment from you in the future.”
I snorted flame, amused over what I knew would happen over the holidays. “An arrangement can be made.”
“See, Janet? This is how you handle police chiefs. You demand bribes to do unpleasant work.”
“I get a paycheck. Apparently, that’s the only bribe required for me to do unpleasant work.”
Whinnying a laugh, I spun around and resumed my search of the complex, hoping I wouldn’t find anything else.
I had enough trouble to last a lifetime. Maybe once Bailey returned, I’d be better equipped to handle additional trouble. Then again, Bailey brought extra trouble wherever she went.