Aspen (15 page)

“I’d rather not.” She pulled the key out of her handcuff pouch and showed it to the guard. “Those are APW custom cuffs. They have their own key and this is it. Bye-bye.” She tossed it down the hallway, where it vanished with a metallic clank.

“You can’t do that! You’re a cop!” the guard yelled.

Raven turned away. “Yeah, I’m a cop and I could arrest you for assaulting an officer. Instead, I’m just chaining you to the wall for the night. Maybe next time, you’ll have learned some manners.”

She found Levac outside leaning against the Bass. He was talking on the phone, but hung up when he saw Raven. “District has a BOLO out on our suspects and Frost authorized including the local Feds. Did you get anything else out of Becker?”

Raven waved her notepad. “I have a partial plate, make and model. Can you get them added to the BOLO?”

Levac pressed a stud on his phone and took the pad. “Need you even ask?”

Raven took a few steps away from the car and dialed her own phone. It rang once, then “Hey, it’s Aspen. I’m studying or hacking or something, leave a message.”

“Asp, it’s Raven. Call me, please? I’m worried about you.” She ended the call and closed her eyes. She could feel Aspen, she was still somewhere to the west, no more than a few hours away. She could feel Aspen was tired and afraid and part of her considered looking through Aspen’s eyes, to see what was happening. But she’d promised herself she wouldn’t, that she wouldn’t betray her friend’s trust.

She sighed and turned back to Levac, who was finishing his call.

“Got a hit on the BOLO already. Your Suburban just blew through a traffic cam on the other side of town.”

Raven took another look to the west, torn. “Come on, Asp, give me a sign!”

II

Devil’s Lake, MO: 2:13 a.m.

Aspen’s chest felt like it was going to burst. She’d been running so long she couldn’t feel her legs and her feet were growing leaden. She slowed and collapsed onto a bench, part of an old bus-stop that had once connected the small town to St. Louis and civilization. But she dare not rest long. No matter what she did, the lycan somehow caught her scent and was on top of her.

She leaned back against the bench and fought to catch her breath. She could hear the lycan not far away. She was surprised he hadn’t called to any of his pack to join the hunt, but it occurred to her he might not want to share his kill with them. He wanted her alive when he ate her.

She bent forward and held her head in her hands. She hoped to the Goddess and the forest that Jynx and the woman were safe. That had been the plan, after all.

“What am I doing? I’m no hero, I’m a lab tech from Wyoming.”

The lycan howled again, it had caught her scent and was on the move. It was only a matter of time until it caught her. She stood and looked at the bus map still hanging from the wall. The last place on the list was a gift shop for the old mine. According to the information section, the shop carried a variety of silver goods made from ‘the last of Devil’s Lake silver.’

It was more than likely nothing but touristy junk, but anything was worth a try. She turned to get her bearings and started running again, her boots pounding out a cadence on the pavement loud enough to wake the dead. This time, she wanted the lycan to find her.

Devil’s Lake gifts may have once been the kind of store that attracted tourists like flies to honey with its wide, welcoming doors, tall “I Love Devil’s Lake” sign and cigar store carvings, but now it was a dust-covered relic that, somehow, hadn’t been touched. The doors and windows were boarded from the outside and looked as if they had remained unmolested for the last fifty years. Aspen slowed to a stop and raised her hands. She could still feel her connection with Raven, but it was weak. She was hungry, tired and needed rest to recharge. She promised herself she would have chocolate and a nap as soon as her job was done.

She concentrated and balled up her hands, then made a pulling motion while muttering words of power. The boards covering the windows tore loose and clattered to the ground, allowing her to stagger into the store.

Inside was exactly the sort of store you would expect to find in a tourist trap. Shelves full of desperate knickknacks lined the walls, with everything from “miniature mine tools” to “100% genuine never used tin mining pans”. T-shirts, now moldy and moth-eaten, hung from chrome racks and a humidor full of mold Aspen couldn’t identify sat in the corner along with an antique soda machine that was still humming by the door. Behind the single counter was an assortment of “Devil’s Own Silver” inside a glass case.

Aspen broke open the soda machine and pulled out a bottle of cola so cold frost formed on the bottle as she held it. She twisted off the top and turned to see the lycan outside. He was on the far side of the parking lot, his nose in the air. Aspen raised her soda and took a draught from the bottle. It was cloying and a little thick with age, but tasted like nectar compared to the sawdust taste in her mouth.

“You followed me all the way across town, for what? Jynx and her friend are long gone and, let me tell you, I don’t taste good. I had to drink some of my own blood once, it’s kinda like prune juice.”

The lycan stepped forward, shifting with every step until he was again human. He smiled and spread his hands. “I don’t want to hurt you. I need a new alpha female, and you’ll do just as well as the Kane bitch. One female is about as good as the next.”

Aspen took another sip. “Sorry, big guy. You aren’t my type. Not that the pet python between your legs isn’t, you know, impressive, but you would be the second bloodthirsty maniac in a row I shared a bed with and I don’t think Raven would approve.”

Clanton’s face darkened. “Are you refusing me, woman?”

“My name is Aspen, and nobody in their right mind would agree to run with you. You’re a megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur,” Aspen replied.

She could see Clanton trying to work out what she’d said.

“Would you like a dictionary? I’m sure the store has one at a discount price for you, the Devil’s Lake customer,” she quipped.

Clanton roared and started forward again, shifting into lycan form as he walked. Aspen threw her bottle at him and ducked back into the store. She rolled over the counter and fell in a heap behind it, wondering how Raven always made moves like that look so damn sexy.

The lycan crashed through the doors a moment later, sending wood and glass in every direction. Aspen peeked at him from behind the counter, waiting for him to turn. His nose tested the air and his jaws parted around a howl of triumph. He tossed the chrome shirt display aside and took a step toward her. Aspen straightened and raised her hands in a casting posture. At least, she hoped it was one. She was still making this up as she went.

“When I was a girl, I always wanted to master what my mother called ‘the caster’s hand’. It’s supposed to be a simple spell to move objects with magik. It was simple, for everyone but me. I never could get a handle on it. Until today.”

Behind her, the silver cabinet opened and a chill wind rose, sending her purple hair flying around her shoulders. The lycan stopped, his eyes wide with surprise and fear. He turned to run, but it was too late. Dozens of commemorative silver knives, spoons, forks and coins flew from the cabinet and impaled the lycan with lethal velocity. He stumbled from the impacts and fought to pull the silver from his body. Steam erupted from his skin where the silver touched and his body looked as if it was on fire from within. After a moment he let out a pained roar and collapsed. His skin slowly dissolved until there was nothing left but a half-shifted skeleton and a pile of melted and warped silver.

Aspen squatted next to him. “On a normal day, I would find this fascinating. Today, I just want a nap and a pound of chocolate. Rest in peace, Clanton.”

She stood and walked into the night. She’d run so far she couldn’t see the hotel, but she assumed it wouldn’t be hard to find. It was a hotel in the middle of town, how hard could it be?

She fished her phone out of her pocket and checked for messages. She had a strong signal, but there was nothing, nothing from Jynx or Raven. She wasn’t sure if she should try Jynx, if she and the woman were hiding from any of the monsters in the area, she might give away their position.

Not that it mattered. She could feel the rest of Clanton’s pack watching her. She raised her eyes and looked at them, standing in a semi-circle ahead of her. There was almost a dozen outlined against the sky. Their increasing growl gave off the same feeling as a pressure-cooker about to pop.

Aspen gave them a small wave and backed away. “Look, if this is about your boss, I can explain. He was a dick, okay? You can do better than a psycho-killer left over from the Wild West. Why don’t you go back to your den or whatever and take a vote?”

The lycans continued to stare at her, their yellow eyes reflecting the street lights. Aspen knew it was only a matter of time before their growl reached a crescendo and they pounced. She was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open, she wasn’t sure she had the energy to fight them all off. But she wasn’t going to embarrass Raven by giving up without a fight.

“Fine, then. After you kill me, I’m going to haunt all of you.”

She raised her shield and continued to back away. They would be easier to fight if they had to come at her one at a time through the doors of the store.

She never made it. She’d walked less than ten feet when the largest of the lycans howled and the rest attacked as one. Aspen blocked the first two with her shield and threw fire at the next, sending it meet its maker in a cloud of fire and brimstone. Her shield collapsed under the next attack and she fell to the ground. She could taste blood in her mouth, feel it trickling from her nose, but she kept fighting. The next lycan near her got a face full of flame that sent it scurrying away in pain while another was blown off its feet by a gust of hurricane force wind.

Aspen spat blood and fought to stand, but her legs wouldn’t hold her. She rose to her knees and cast another flame spell, keeping the lycans at bay. In the sudden silence when the flame died, she heard another sound. A growl she knew all too well and never expected to hear in the middle of nowhere. She wiped the blood from her mouth and smiled.

“You hear that? That’s someone who makes your boss look like a docile Chihuahua, and she’s pissed.”

A black muscle car roared out of the darkness and slid into a controlled power slide. Raven Storm’s pistol appeared in the window and she fired six shots in quick succession. Four of the lycans were killed instantly, two were wounded and scurried away, confused by the new arrival.

The passenger door of the Bass opened and Raven looked out. “This? This is why you should have called me sooner.”

Aspen felt relief flood through her, along with other emotions she couldn’t vocalize. Love, confusion and fear all fought for her attention.

“You’re late,” she managed. Then she pitched over into the black waters of exhaustion.

CHAPTER TEN

Devil’s Lake, MO: 5:40 a.m.

Aspen woke to the sound of people arguing. She opened her eyes to see an unfamiliar and filthy ceiling covered in flaking paint and water stains. She was lying on a bed that had seen better days beneath a blanket she recognized as coming from the trunk of Raven’s car.

It wasn’t a dream,
she thought.

“Kid, I don’t care how many so-called monsters you’ve killed or how badass you think you are. We aren’t going anywhere until Aspen is awake and I have some idea what the hell is going on,” Raven said.

“Don’t call me ‘kid’, bloodsucker,” Jynx growled.

Aspen sat up. “I see you two have met. Can’t we all get along?”

Raven was standing in the middle of the room in what was one of Aspen’s favorite outfits, though she’d never said anything. It consisted of a blue blouse of some silken material, leather pants and a black jacket that matched her own. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail and her face was almost devoid of makeup. She moved to Aspen’s side and sat on the bed.

“How are you feeling?”

Aspen rubbed her head. “My skull is pounding and my mouth tastes like a wet dog slept in it, but I’m better than I would have been if you hadn’t shown up. That was nice timing, Ray.”

“That’s two you owe me, Asp.”

Jynx was leaning against the wall. “Yeah, okay, the skeeter is the big hero of the night, can we talk about what happened to Clanton? And maybe getting out of here?”

Raven turned. “Jynx, is it? Call me ‘skeeter’ on more time and you’ll be riding back to civilization in the trunk.”

She looked back at Aspen. “Did you have to tell your new friend I was a Dhampyr?”

Aspen blushed. “It came up by accident and I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

Jynx popped her gum and sucked it back into her mouth. “It could be worse. You could be a furball and then I’d really hate you.”

Raven walked toward Jynx. “You have a serious attitude problem. How many innocent preternaturals have you blown away with that thing?”

Jynx straightened. “None. I only make sanctioned kills. How ‘bout you? How many innocent humans have you fed on?”

Raven glared at her. “None. I don’t feed, I’m only part vampire. My family only feeds from willing donors and it is against the Totentanz to commit murder. I execute the bottom-feeders that kill.”

Aspen stepped between them. “Okay, can we take this down a notch? There’s way too much estrogen flying around in here. You’re both goodguys, you kill the badguys, let’s all be friends now, ‘kay?”

Jynx glanced at her and after a moment her face broke into a smile. “Are you always this perky?”

Raven smiled. “So far. I don’t think anything can make Aspen not be happy. At least not for long.”

Aspen rubbed her head and wished the pounding would stop. “This headache is making me less happy. I think I have a magik hangover.”

“It will pass. I saw your handiwork on my way through town, it looks to me like you need a vacation,” Raven said.

Aspen sat on the bed, which creaked ominously. “How did you do that, by the way? I mean, find me? Not that I’m not grateful for the rescue from the forces of Alpo, but we’re in the middle of nowhere.”

Raven shrugged. “You’re my familiar, I can feel you. I could tell you were in trouble so I came to check on you. I guess it was sort of like following a homing pigeon. I just followed my instincts until I saw you.”

“Ten seconds more, I’d have been puppy chow,” Aspen said.

Jynx sat on the bed beside her. “What you did was stupid, Asp. Nobody hunts lycans alone.”

“I wasn’t hunting them, I was running from them. They cornered me and I fought back,” Aspen said.

“You’re lucky Ike didn’t gut you and make a necklace out of your intestines. I might have been able to protect you, he wants me as his—”

“Alpha mate. I know, he told me. The correct word is “wanted.” I buried him in enough silver to kill a normal-sized pack,” Aspen finished.

Jynx raised her eyebrows. “Clanton is dead?”

Aspen nodded. “Yes, very very dead. So dead not even Eliazarr’s blood can bring him back.”

Jynx studied the floor between her boots. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Jynx, I know you wanted to kill him, to take your vengeance…”

Jynx turned and hugged her. “What matters is that piece of filth is dead. My family can rest in peace, Piper and I can move on. Thank you.”

Aspen didn’t know what she’d expected. She hadn’t really expected to still be alive, but she also hadn’t expected Jynx to be happy she’d killed her arch enemy or for Jynx to hug her, which seemed odd. But weirder things had happened. She hugged Jynx back and met Raven’s eyes. Raven looked confused and Aspen mouthed,
tell you later.

The hug was brief; Jynx let go and sat back. “Okay, so now what? Does the Mistress of the Night being here mean we can blow this pop stand?”

Aspen rubbed her lip in thought. “I doubt it, almost nobody gets out of here alive. The woman made it out like she’s been stuck here for ages and Martel getting out was a big deal. Where is she, by the way?”

“I put her in the next room to get some sleep. It took hours and a bottle of tequila I found to get her to calm down,” Jynx said.

Aspen stood and walked toward Raven. “I need to talk to her, there has to be something in her notes about getting out of here.”

She stopped and hugged Raven around the waist. “But first, I want to say thank you for being here. I should have known you’d come.”

For once, Raven didn’t seem to mind the hug. “You were in trouble, I came. That’s what I do. I’m still not up to speed, though. Why can’t we just get in the Bass and leave this place in rearview?”

“We already tried that. There is something here, some force preventing us from leaving. We just ended up driving in circles until we gave up,” Aspen said.

“Swell. Any idea what it is?”

“Before you showed up, we were investigating this thing called ‘the other’,” Jynx said.

“Who is the other? It sounds like a bad horror villain.”

“Don’t know who or what,” Aspen replied, “But everything we’ve found so far points to it being the local big bad, one among many.”

Raven made a disgusted face. “You mean there is something worse out there than a pack of pissed off lycans? Some vacation spot you two picked. Next time, go camping in a camp ground like normal people.”

“I didn’t know it was this bad, okay? I was just trying to solve a mystery, to do what we do. Things just didn’t go like I’d planned,” Aspen said.

Raven reached out and took Aspen’s hand. “I’m sorry, Asp, I didn’t mean to snap at you, it was a long drive. What do we need to do?”

“Talk to the woman with no name and go through her notes,” Aspen said.

“And find some food,” Jynx added. “I’m starving.”

“There is food in the Bass. Sort of, anyway. I have my emergency stash, and Rupert left a whole bag of Mondo Burger cheeseburgers on the floor. They might be a little stale, but should still be edible,” Raven said.

She handed Jynx the keys. “Why don’t you snag some breakfast and I’ll keep an eye on our favorite witch.”

Jynx spun the keys around her finger and looked at the chain. “Equus, huh? Is that the 770? I saw it in Modern Musclecars.”

“Yes, my mother got her hands on an early production model. Feel free to look, but no joy rides, she’s low on gas,” Raven said.

Jynx grinned and popped her gum again. “I bet it is still slower than Midnite. Speaking of which, we need to find her before we bail.”

She tossed the keys in the air, caught them and walked out the door. Raven watched her then looked at Aspen.

“What the hell is Midnite?”

“Her car. She names everything. One of her pistols is named Mary, the other is called Margaret, Maggie for short,” Aspen said.

Raven shook her head. “You have weird-ass friends, Asp. Since when do you hang out with hunters?”

She said ‘hunters’ in the same way someone might once have said ‘damnyankees’.

Aspen walked into the hallway. “They aren’t all bad, Ray. She and her sister are the good sort. According to Creek, they only take official jobs for rogue preternaturals and they focus on lycans and lone wolves.”

Raven followed her. “Where do they get official jobs, Slayers R Us?”

Aspen opened the door and looked in. The woman was sitting up and scribbling furiously on the wall with a red marker. Aspen could make out the words ‘the other’ and ‘alpha lycan’ mixed in with what looked like gibberish.

“Something called Section Thirteen, according to Creek,” she replied absently.

“Excuse me, ma’am. Do you feel up to talking?”

The woman didn’t look up. “The lycan is dead, something else will come. There is a mathematical probability it will be worse, something to cause more fear.”

“Did any of that make sense to you?” Raven asked.

Aspen chewed the inside of her lip then looked at Raven. “Almost. There is something really weird going on that I just can’t place.”

“And you think she can fill in the blanks?”

“I’m hoping, but so far I don’t even know her name. Jynx and I saved her from the lycans and then things got complicated,” Aspen said.

Raven pulled out her badge and flipped it open. “Ma’am, I’m Detective Storm with Chicago District One, I’m here to help. Can you tell me your name?”

The woman kept writing. “Police? What good are police against the Other? ... Carry the two…add seven…”

“Ma’am? Could you stop writing and tell me your name, please?” Raven asked.

“Wright. Doctor Becky Wright, Stamford,” she said without stopping.

Raven moved closer and put her badge away. “Doctor Wright, please, Aspen and I are here to help. Could you talk to us, please?”

Aspen sat on the bed beside Dr. Wright. “I need your help, doc. I think I know what is going on, but I need you to tell me what you’ve seen. What’s in your notes?”

Wright turned from the wall. “Kris. It was he who worked it out, he saw the signs and he worked with us to find the door. He found it, he found you.”

“Tell me about the Other,” Aspen said.

Wright’s eyes looked haunted. “He is a terrible being, something from beyond. Kris named him the Other. He is not human, not monster, he is something else.”

“Yeah, great, we got that, doctor. Can you be a little less vague?” Raven asked.

Wright pulled the sheets over herself and huddled in the corner. “A terrible thing, terrible. When he appears, even the monsters flee. And we die.”

She pulled her shirt up to show the blue lines that traced beneath her skin. They stood out against her pale, dirty flesh like blue highways on an old roadmap.

“He is coming. Charles, Charles let the creatures take him rather than face the Other.”

She closed her eyes. “Kill me, do not let me be taken, don’t let him get me.”

With sudden speed she sprang forward and grabbed Raven’s wrist.

Raven pulled her hand free. “Look, doc, I don’t know what’s going on here, but we don’t kill people just because they ask. That’s called murder.”

“What does the Other do when he takes people?” Aspen asked.

Wright curled back up in the corner. “He takes their soul. He reaches in, pulls it out and swallows it whole. They are no more. Not just dead, no more. I would rather face the monsters, too. Even hell has to be better than being devoured.”

Aspen reached out and took Wright’s hand. “Nobody is going to devour anyone. My partner is here now and she isn’t going to let anything happen to you. She and Jynx will stop it. Tell me more about the Other, where is he, what does he look like?”

“No one can stop it, no one!” Wright cried.

“I can, doctor. I’m no ordinary cop. But you have to tell us what is going on, I can’t fight it if I don’t know what it is,” Raven said.

“No one can,” Wright muttered. “They all died, he killed them all. He will kill you, too. No one escapes.”

Aspen squeezed Wright’s hand. “I think we need to be just a little more constructive here, doctor. Tell us what you can so we can do down fighting.”

Wright pulled her hand away and sank into the corner with the sheets pulled up to her chin. “He comes from the north, a black figure in a hooded robe. His skin is charred and he drops smoking flesh as he walks, flesh that burns away behind him. He is accompanied by six silver men who take his chosen and bring them to him.”

Raven frowned at her. “Silver men? What does that mean, silver men?”

Wright didn’t look at her. “Men, with skin of silver, like flowing mercury. The come and there is no escape.”

Aspen looked at Raven. “Do you have any idea what she is talking about?”

Raven shook her head. “No, it doesn’t sound like anything in the Totentanz.”

“I can look in Dad’s diary,” Jynx said.

Aspen turned to see Jynx standing in the doorway holding a waxed-paper bag with a red M on the outside in one hand and a yellow-wrapped cheeseburger in the other. The way she was chewing reminded her of Rupert.

“Please do,” she said. “Anything we can find might help us get out of here.”

Jynx tossed her the bag of burgers and pulled a leather-bound notebook out of her jacket pocket. The journal was old, so old the leather was creased and the tanning had worn off most of the cover. Bits of yellowed paper, receipts and business cards stuck out at odd angles. Jynx sat against the wall and began thumbing through the book with great care.