Bad blood, p.2
Bad Blood, page 2
part #7 of Jack Dahlish Series
The pawn store owner from San Antonio was the man who should have taken the reins of the Circle after Nyk and I put the Magpie in jail. The Romani twins had stepped up before he could, solidifying their own control of the North American arm of a worldwide organization. The Circle wasn’t really evil, per se, just immoral in the process of securing wealth and power for their members. If some unrelated person got injured in the process, it was considered an acceptable cost of doing business.
The twins, on the other hand, had proven to be quite ruthless. While I had been off in India learning to harness the powers of the coin and be more effective as one of the Nine, Nyk had encountered Goldie again while the man was being hunted by assassins sent by the siblings. After saving the old man, Nyk had been drawn into helping Goldie’s attempt to secure the Circle leadership. In the process, the two of them had disrupted or defeated many of the twins’ plans.
Which made them decide that Nyk had to go, and me along with him since they judged I wouldn’t take his death well. They’d been right, but I would have liked a little more warning that trouble was headed my way than a gray man trying to kill me in the middle of a crowded restaurant while Annie and I were supposed to be enjoying our first date. It was the coin that saved me, when I was able to focus on the creature that was practically invisible to everyone else, immediately forgotten if they did happen to notice and then look away from him.
The Rosus had kidnapped Ollie after their attempts to kill me failed, setting up a hostage trade at the Alamo. That turned into an entirely expected ambush, when the twins used their magic and half a dozen hidden trolls to try and kill me and my friends on the grounds of one of San Antonio’s oldest and most beloved landmarks.
The twins had escaped after Ollie put a bullet through Elina. She and Alexandru managed to evade his pursuit while Nyk, Annie, and I fought off the trolls. All these months later, I didn’t even know if the woman had survived the gunshot. Trusted sources had reported sightings of Alexandru and a woman, but she always kept her head and face covered so that it could have been anyone.
“Hi, guys!” Monica bounced into the front room with a chipper attitude that made me grimace. The young woman, only a few months past her eighteenth birthday, hugged Annie briefly before she turned to Nyk. “You ripped another one?” she asked in awe, reaching up to where his shirt had torn across his chest while he was emulating Hercules with the ogres. The big guy actually blushed as she ran her fingers along his exposed skin, and I did a double take. I looked to Annie, who was smirking as she watched the pair.
I groaned inwardly. The mayor’s granddaughter, child of a woman with a broken mind who had been seduced by a fallen angel, was a Nephilim. For a brief time, she had been convinced by her father that humans kept her kind subjugated and hidden because they were feared and despised. I’d managed to convince her half-brother and -sister of the truth, that all sorts of Nox shared the world voluntarily with humans, but Monica had been more entrenched in the angel’s sway. She had spent her seventeen years yearning for a father, and when he appeared it hadn’t been difficult for her to transfer all that love and affection into doing whatever would make him happy. Over several months, I had patiently worked with her, watching her return to her old self more and more each day.
And now I had to worry that she was head-over-heels infatuated with a man more than twice her size and age. Although, I couldn’t help but admit that she might be one of the few women who could match Nyk’s strength. Being a Nephilim, she had more power in her small body than anyone would expect. I’d seen her lifting weights with her half-brother Kerry during one of his visits to Windemere Hall, and the bar had been loaded with at least three hundred pounds. Neither of them showed more than the slightest strain as they lifted it several dozen times, either.
I coughed and cleared my throat loudly as the fondling and blushing continued a lot longer than any of us should have been comfortable with. Annie turned away to hide a laugh behind her hand as she brushed past me to head for the back room we had set up as an operational headquarters. Monica’s hand jerked away from Nyk’s chest, but she didn’t look embarrassed at all as she flashed a smile at me and followed.
“Uh, you know she’s only eighteen, right?” I asked, trying to hold back a laugh of my own at the stricken look on Nyk’s face as he stared at the door Monica had gone through. “And that her grandmother is the mayor of San Antonio?”
“It’s not my fault,” he said faintly.
I couldn’t hold back the laughter any longer. I punched Nyk’s arm playfully, a gesture he didn’t even notice. “No, I suppose it’s my fault. Annie and I tend to leave the two of you alone for hours at a time, and I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that she developed feelings for you. You’re the only man in her life that didn’t kill her father, after all.”
Nyk looked at me with a bewildered expression. “What am I going to do, Jack?”
“Be gentle with her,” I said. “Because if you hurt that girl, you’ll have to answer to me.” I patted him on the back before leaving him in the front room as I followed the women to the back of the house. The room that took up the back half of the brownstone had originally been a cozy living room. We’d spent a few days dragging all the furniture out and bringing in tables, electronics, and gear of all kinds. Now it looked like the hub of a vigorous investigation.
Annie and Monica were taking quietly, their heads together. I coughed loudly as I entered the room, not wanting to surprise them. Annie shot me a smile and a wink, while Monica’s face flushed pink before she turned away.
“Um, I guess we can mark off that hotel,” she said, walking over to the large map of the city and surrounding boroughs that was hanging on a wall. She picked up a red marker, crossing off the circled location of the hotel adjacent to Central Park that we’d just returned from.
“Don’t worry,” Annie whispered as she walked over, wrapper her arm around mine. “I told her to go easy on the big guy, and to be gentle with him.”
I sputtered a short laugh. She gave me an odd look that turned into a sly smile. “Did you think Monica was the one that would be hurt if things didn’t work out, Dahlish? That girl is tougher than you give her credit for. You should let her come along on the next raid.”
“Yeah, you should,” Monica said brightly, turning a wide smile on me. I always forgot how acute her hearing had become once she embraced her Nephilim heritage. Unlike most Nox, Nephilim could spend their entire lives thinking they were nothing more than simple humans. It was only when they learned of their heritage and accepted it that their traits began to manifest.
“I’ll think about it,” I said. “I don’t even know if you can handle a weapon yet. I’ll try to make more time to work on your training.”
“I took care of that,” Annie said, brushing her lips against my cheek. “While you spend hours up here brooding over our next move, Monica and I have been training down in the basement.”
Well, I guess that explained why no one ever interrupted me while I was “brooding”, as she called it. I’ll admit I spent a lot of time poring over the reports from our growing network of sources in the city, but that was standard investigative work. There was nothing broody about it. “Speaking of our next move, have we gotten any intel yet on another location where the Rosus might be found?”
Monica walked over to a bank of displays that were connected to several laptops. “I’m still getting tips about that hotel. I guess we can rule those out now. What did you guys find there?”
“A ghoul,” Annie said, grimacing at the thought while she fingered the bite marks on her neck. “Which reminds me, I need a shower.” She pulled me down for a quick kiss before she left to climb the stairs to her bedroom on the third floor.
“There were also a couple of ogres,” I said. “Nyk took care of those, for the most part.”
“I wish I could have seen that,” the young woman said, her eyes turning dreamy as she stared into space.
“Yeah… anyway, I think the Rosus probably were there, but that was days ago. They’re leaving fewer of their goons behind each time, though.”
“Maybe we’re finally wearing down their resources,” Monica said optimistically. “I heard that Goldie has been getting more support over the last few weeks, as others in the organization see how tenaciously we’re trying to tear down the twins. Quite a few have decided it was time to flee the sinking ship while they still could.”
I stared at her for a few moments, taking a deep breath. “How did you hear anything about Goldie? He’s been just as slippery as the Rosus.”
“I told her,” Nyk rumbled from behind me. I turned to see him leaning against the wall just inside the door. “The old guy finally called me a few weeks ago, and a couple of times since.”
“Why didn’t you say anything? You know I’ve been looking for him since he disappeared from Windemere.”
Nyk shrugged his massive shoulders. “Goldie asked me to keep it to myself.” I looked to Monica and back to Nyk with raised eyebrows, and he chuckled uncomfortably. “I told Monica a few nights ago while we were sharing takeout. It just kind of came out.”
I was definitely going to have to keep an eye on those two. Whatever was going on had been developing right under my nose, and I hadn’t noticed it. Granted, I was a little focused on finding the people who still wanted me dead, but I shared a house with these people. I should have paid more attention.
“Well, the next time Goldie calls, tell him I want to talk. If he’s picking up more support for his leadership claim, we need to pool resources. That could help us pin down a location for the Rosus before they move on to another location.”
“I’ll mention it,” Nyk said hesitantly, telling me not to hold my breath. It was enough to make me growl in frustration. This whole hunt was dragging out a lot longer than I’d ever expected.
“I’m going to grab a shower, too.” I picked up one of the first aid kits we kept in convenient locations and heard the rattle of pill bottles inside. Convincing Annie to take the antibiotics would be the hard part. “Yell if you get any promising information.”
“But not too loudly, right?” Monica asked with a mischievous smile. “Hope it’s not too tight in there with two people.”
I ignored her, and Nyk’s low chuckle, and marched out of the room and up the stairs to where I could hear Annie already singing as the water cascaded over her.
THREE
I stared at the map hanging on the wall, fruitlessly trying to find some pattern in the Rosu’s movements based on all the tips we’d received over the last several months. During our time in New York, the four of us had disrupted much of the Circle’s operations in the city and surrounding areas. If I had to guess, I’d say we caused losses in the tens of millions through damages and delays. Perhaps the hundreds of millions if long-term effects were factored in. Even an organization as powerful and wealthy as the Circle would be feeling the pressure.
Goldie was out there causing his own havoc, as well. Before he fled back to San Antonio several months ago, he had lost all of his support to the Rosu siblings. Even his staunchest associates hadn’t been able to stand by him as they saw how strong the opposition was. With my Knights and I stepping in to take a hand against the twins, I knew the old man would reclaim many of his old supporters.
I didn’t like the Circle, and in a perfect world I would burn every trace of such an organization from existence. I’d had fantasies of doing such in New York while we were sitting on a plane to get to America’s largest city, but the intervening months had shown me just how widespread and influential the organization truly was. Even if I gathered all of the Nine together, I didn’t think we’d have a chance of eradicating every trace of it. For now, I’d be happy with just putting Goldie into the leadership role for this part of the Circle. The old man wasn’t perfect, but he had more morals than both of the twins combined.
The clacking of the keyboard came to an abrupt end behind me, and I turned to look at the setup Monica used to receive and organize all the tips that came in from our sources. We’d built a network in the Five Boroughs that consisted of dozens of people in all walks of life. They sent emails or texts to anonymous accounts and received a small payment almost immediately. Once we checked the information, there was a bonus if it was verified as being helpful. There had been a few people who tried to use the system as an ATM, sending in “tips” that were filled with months-old information or created from thin air, but weeding out such leeches was easy enough.
“What is it?” I asked, crossing the room to stand behind the teenager.
Monica shook her head and finished reading the text displayed on one of her screens. “I need to reach out to a few people to verify this information before you should worry about it.”
Well, now I was worried. “Just tell me.”
She looked up at me, and her expression was even more concerning to me. “I’ve gotten a couple of reports that one or both of the Rosus were seen boarding a cargo ship last night.”
I looked from her to the screen as my jaw clenched. I couldn’t let them get away now, after all the work we’d put into this. It would take months to set up in a new place to begin the hunt again. “Do we know which ship? Where is it docked?”
Monica chewed on her bottom lip for a second. “The ship is called Nero’s Folly, according to one source. That’s something else I need to have checked out, though.”
Hope flared inside of me. If we had the name of the ship, then we could find it and get on board to find the twins. There would be limited escape routes, especially if we waited until it sailed and was in the middle of the bay. “Where is it? Let’s make sure we have eyes on it at all times. I want to go check it myself.”
“The Folly sailed last night, Jack. Only an hour after the latest report of seeing the Rosus board.” Monica flinched as I glared at her, and I felt instant remorse.
I took a deep breath, forcing my anger back down with all the other rage and frustration I’d been holding in since I first saw Nyk about to be sacrificed at a voodoo ritual. I was used to Nox coming after me, but having them go after my friends in order to hurt me was something I’d been unprepared for. “Do we have any way of tracking that ship to find out where it’s going? Maybe we can get some people on the other end to see if either or both of the Rosus get off.”
Monica’s eyes lit up. “Oh yeah, that’s the easy part.” She gestured to one of her multitude of monitors, where she expanded a window showing a satellite map with a red dot at the end of a blue line. “The company that owns Nero’s Folly has GPS trackers on all of its ships, and you can view the location of them via their website.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. The wonders of the modern age, when everyone being able to track your every move was no longer an invasion of privacy but a convenience feature. “Good work,” I said, patting her on the shoulder.
Two arms wrapped around me, and I smelled the fruity scent of Annie’s body wash. “What’s good work?” I enjoyed the feel of her warm body against mine as Monica recapped what she’d learned about the cargo ship. “Does that mean they’re running away?” Annie asked as she released me to bend closer to look at the map.
“I doubt it. Maybe they’re heading home to papa to ask for more soldiers.” The twins’ father was the head of the entire Circle, based somewhere in Eastern Europe. In my spare moments, I often imagined him as some sinister figure seated on a giant throne in the middle of a hulking medieval castle. Realistically, I knew it was probably more like a plush chair behind a large desk in a gleaming skyscraper that he or the organization owned.
“Assuming they were on the ship,” Monica said cautiously. “Like I was telling Jack, I still need to get more verification for the reports that they were seen boarding.” She turned back to her main monitor, typing out a message as she talked. “I have a line on a relative of one of the people who works on the cargo ship. I’m hoping I can convince them to have their cousin report on any passengers.”
Annie smiled over at me. She was the one who’d worked with Monica the most while the kid was going through a few rough months after her father was killed. It had surprised me how well the two had connected, considering Annie had been the one to chop off one of Monica’s wings and severely damage the other. Wings that I hadn’t seen since her first weeks of being locked in Windemere, when she used to unfurl the ravaged remnants in her angriest moments to display them as reminders of the pain she’d suffered.
“That’s good thinking,” I said. “Let’s also keep our local informants looking, just in case either or both of the Rosus are still in New York.”
“If they’re not, what’s the plan?” Annie asked quietly, wrapping her hand in mine and pulling me over to the map. “Are we going to go racing after them, or stay here and keep dismantling their operations as much as possible?”
I focused on the map and the feel of her warm skin against mine. “I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to dismantle the Circle’s operations, but we should keep putting a stick through the spokes to slow them down as much as we can. If Alexandru or Elina, or both, have gone to Europe, I’ll send word to Gitna. Maybe one of the Nine over there can spare a Knight or two to check on them for me.”
“Good plan,” she said, laying her head on my shoulder. “I’ve always wanted to visit Europe, but not in an adrenaline-fueled rush because we’re hoping to track down and kill some people at the end of it.”
I chuckled as I squeezed her hand. “When this is all over, maybe we can spend a couple of weeks over there on a real vacation. I can introduce you to some other Knights.”
Another of the things I’d learned while in India was that each of the Nine, people like myself who wore one of the nine coins filled with a shard of Chaos power, attracted those like Nyk and Annie who were willing and able to help in the fight against rogue Nox and immoral organizations. I had never thought of my friends as anything more, but then meeting a few of Gitna’s Knights in Hyderabad had put it in perspective. Average friends wouldn’t stand by your side in the middle of a fight with a werewolf or against a fallen angel that was bent on exposing the truth of the Nox to the world. Nyk had accepted the mantle of being a Knight of the Nine with his usual equanimity, though Annie still liked to crack jokes about it now and then.
