The Summoning (Custodes Noctis) (3 page)

Rob laughed and poured two cups of coffee and carried them out, handing one to the dark-haired man. “I got a new blend in, Becci ordered it special.”

“I need aconite, belladonna and a silver charm.” Borja sipped the coffee while Rob pulled the herbs off the shelf. “You’ve added to the labels.”

“I have, I found a couple references in a Saga to magical plants used in Northern Europe and followed them back, I’m pretty sure these are the right terms in a proto-Uralic dialect.”

“No, Rob, there is
something
happening, I’ve been more aware of it since last winter, when you and Galen were gone. I know you were fighting something Old, something that is Not Seen.” The man put emphasis on the words, he understood the world—worlds. While most people saw Borja as a dark-haired, polite Native American, in reality he was only half that. The other half was a shifter, able to see into the Between World and at certain times of the year walk there.

“Do you know what it is?” Rob asked, looking up from the collection of silver charms.

“I’m not sure, something Old is moving, and I…” He met Rob’s eyes. “I can’t tell you everything, but I have seen something coming. I saw a desecration, I saw twisted metal and I saw Darkness there. I don’t know what it means. It was not a place I recognized.”

“Which is why I am here today,” Borja said, smiling. “That and the coffee.” He leaned against the counter. “The vision, it’s mixed up. You should know that. The time line is skewed in a way I’ve never experienced before.” Shaking his head, he sighed. “I wish I could tell you more, but the world is changing, and not the way most expect.”

“Yeah, I think so too. There was a mention in one of the Sagas. I’m trying to track it down, about one of the Old Ones, it was just a line or two. I need more information before I can make any conclusions.”

Rob watched him go then poured himself another cup and wandered over to the books. They needed re-arranging. He pulled all the books off the shelves, dusted the wood and considered them for a minute. After deciding how he would arrange them, he began re-shelving them, letting his mind drift. He’d discovered a long time ago that if his hands were occupied he could focus his mind and chase things that were less tangible with greater ease. One of his professors had explained it during a lecture, a long, boring lecture, but the fact was Rob found it easier to meditate if his hands had something to do. He’d never been one for just sitting and thinking. Maybe it was because of those hours he’d been trapped as a child. Or maybe… He shoved that memory away, not ready to face it tonight.

Once he had the books in the order he wanted, he turned to the storeroom. They’d received several large orders that hadn’t been completely gone through. Galen had checked the packing slips, but left the rest for Rob to take care of during his nocturnal shopkeeping. Rob opened the first box and started going through it, carefully arranging items in piles that he would move either into the shop or onto the storeroom shelves. Halfway through the second box, he found several books he’d ordered for his research collection. He made the mistake of opening one of them, and the rest of the sorting was forgotten as he began reading.

“How long have you been sitting there?” Galen asked, coming down the stairs.

“What?” Rob looked up, the soft light of a rainy morning was coming through the back window. “Uh…” Glancing at the pile of books beside him, he frowned. “Two books?”

“You’ve been sitting there for two books?” His brother sighed. “English? Or something else?”

“One English, one Latin, so not too long, I don’t think.” Rob stood and stretched. His left foot was asleep, he wiggled it to get the blood flowing again. “I’ll go get coffee.” He realized the pot he’d made the night before wasn’t empty. Or was that the second pot? He’d been so absorbed in reading, he’d completely lost track of the time.

“I was expecting it to be waiting,” Galen said, giving him an odd look.

Rob smiled and walked through the shop. It was drizzling, a typical Northwest drizzle, although it was warm. He wasn’t sure if that made it better or worse. It made Galen happy because the plants loved it and Rob had endured his brother’s enthusiastic explanations about how plants preferred rain to hand watering. He personally suspected it had more to do with his brother’s Gifts than the rain, but he just let Galen talk. The morning air was heavy with the scent of coffee, flowers and rain. Rob couldn’t help smiling as he headed across the street.

“Morning, Rob, you’re late,” Becci said, sliding the window open. “I’ve had one ready for ten minutes.”

“Thanks.” He pulled her down for a quick kiss before taking the cup, leaning against the stand and waiting for her to make more. “I was reading.”

“Well, yeah, until then. They were for the research section, and I’ve been waiting for them, but I wanted to make sure they were okay before I put them out.”

“You mean you wanted to play with your toys before anyone else?” Becci giggled, the smile lighting her eyes in the way that made Rob’s heart flutter.

“Top three shelves, magic. Herbs, charms, other, then subdivided by region, so Europe, Asia… Next shelves are herbals that can fall into magic and medicine, again subdivided by region, all alphabetized by author. It’s the same for all the other subjects as well.” He glanced at Galen. “I color coded them too.”

“Oh, is that why my bookshelves look like they have the measles?”

“I was thinking polka dots, it was Becci’s idea. She thought it would make it easier for some of our more casual clients to come and find a book. All the, ahem, less serious books are in the pink dot section.”

“Becci’s idea?”

“No, she wanted little daisies. I thought the pink was less noticeable.”

From the sound of mock disgust, he was pretty sure Galen would have preferred the daisies. “At least I know it will all change in a week or two.”

“You never know.”

“Did you sleep last night?” Galen asked, casually walking over to the counter and sitting down. His brother rarely commented on his sleeping habits.

“Why?” Galen was completely focused on him. Rob had always suspected his brother had some tiny hint of the Sight, maybe not even enough to consciously realize it, but that searching look was more intense than usual.

“I’m not sure, Galen. I don’t know if it’s a dream or a memory or what. Billy has helped in that past, before I came home, you know that.” He took a breath to defend himself, but his brother just nodded for him to continue. “And Borja came in last night and said something was coming, something Old and it would involve me—us—and some now and some later. He said the time line was ‘skewed’.”

“No.” Rob sigh. “It doesn’t make me feel better either. There’s something wrong, Galen. I just don’t know if it’s me or the world or both.”

Galen

The garden was quiet, the warm scent of the richness of growing things surrounded Galen as he knelt among his plants, gently pulling some to transplant to the other side, or snipping a leaf to encourage growth. He never weeded the garden in the sense most people would, he just coaxed the plants up and moved them to a different area. One person’s weed was someone else’s medicinal or magical plant. He still laughed at the memory of Flash’s discovery of the carefully tended patch of dandelions. Even after Galen had carefully explained that they were important, and not just “filthy pain-in-the-ass weeds”, Flash remained unconvinced. In fact, after sitting with Galen while he tended the garden once or twice, his friend had become so frustrated he’d disappeared to the coffee stand for nearly an hour.

Galen really couldn’t blame him. Flash wasn’t really made for sitting and talking to plants, and his idea of taking care of a yard involved a power lawnmower that was capable of mowing down everything including small trees and probably small cars if they got in the way. Still, Flash had hovered over Galen while he was getting the garden ready in early Spring.

Everyone had hovered, reaction to the accident, no doubt. It had taken Galen months to get his brother and friends to allow him time alone. He was fine, he’d healed. Rob should know better, but, then again, Galen was still haunted by injuries Rob had suffered and he knew, objectively at least, that his brother was fine. The subjective mind wasn’t so sure.

He’d retreated to the garden to think, the space offered more than something to do. The area was Bolted, nothing supernatural could enter or even gaze in without his permission. The ravens could come and go as they pleased, and he was usually surprised by some small gift they’d found and left among the plants. Today he’d discovered a piece of what looked like brightly colored beads tucked in the gray lamb’s ears. They were adding their own magic to the garden, at least he hoped that’s what it was. He did know there was a peace here that was nowhere else, a quiet in his heart and mind that let him think.

There was a lot to think about. Something was going on, he’d noticed his brother’s odd sleeping habits were even more erratic than usual, and judging by the hyper-organizing of the shop, Rob was on edge. The fact his brother had called Billy Hernandez was a little worrying. Galen was trying not to let it bother him that Rob had called Billy rather than talk with him, but he knew Rob and the shaman had worked together when Galen was “dead” and it was a natural reaction. Even if it stung. He was trying to trust Rob to let him know what was going on, but there was a nagging sense of foreboding that Galen knew was more than just misplaced worry.

He knew they had Gifts that were different than many other
Custodes Noctis;
actually according to Rob, they had the Gifts that the Keepers once had, but had been put aside for various reasons ranging from the fact they were viewed as “dangerous” to “just not needed” in the modern world. The Scientific Revolution had affected the
Custodes Noctis
, and even though they knew Darkness still walked the earth, many families had cast aside many of the Traditions, keeping only those that seemed to fit in a world ruled by science. For some reason, Galen and Rob still had those lost Gifts. Some of them were obvious, Rob had a small Gift of healing—or had before his encounter with the
feorhbealu,
and Galen had a tiny bit of the Sight. Nothing like his brother’s Gift, but enough to help boost his healing and enough to see the dark shadow lurking behind his brother for the last few days.