White Winter (The Black Year Series Book 2) (21 page)

“And are you always so… direct?”

She leaned against her desk and crossed her arms, then said, “Why do you think he came?”

“Is this part of my evaluation?”

“Everything is part of your evaluation, Jonas.”

He swallowed, and tried to remember the details of what happened. “He showed up without an appointment, which was rude. You hate rude people, and everyone knows you hate rude people, so he thought he could get away with it for some reason. He said you knew his grandfather?”

She nodded. “Your father and I met him during the Second World War and checked in on him every decade or so. Not enough to give him a free pass.”

“Does he have anything you need?”

“No.”

Jonas sighed. “I’m sorry, I have no idea what he was thinking, then.”

“It’s all right, Jonas. I didn’t expect you to figure it out, but you need to start thinking of this sort of thing on your own.”

Jonas frowned. “So why did you see him? Because he’s a Senator?”

“The Agency keeps files on a number of political figures worldwide. We also have the capital to allow a candidate the airtime they need, which has become more important since the Checkers speech. We don’t go out of our way to antagonize public officials, but we expect a certain degree of courtesy.

“Benjamin Stiverson is an anomaly. He’s basically honest, and his father left him enough money to focus his ambitions on power instead of wealth. Our file on him is quite short. That’s important, because politicians with too many secrets can’t afford to draw attention. They’re cheap, but their favors are small. They also don’t like young, ambitious, basically honest politicians. The senator is three years into his term, and an increasing number of doors are being closed in his face.

“He has the quiet desperation of a man whose dreams are collapsing. That’s why I met with him. Desperate men make the best tools.”

“And you think he can find dad?”

She touched the rose on her collar, as if she was checking if it was still there. “It’s unlikely, but he’s not the only person looking. Whoever has him is going to run out of places to hide.” She straightened. “I have a meeting at eight; let’s get started.”

As she reached for the door, Jonas said, “Mom?”

“Yes, Jonas?”

“You didn’t happen to call in some cheap, small favors to have those doors closed in his face, did you?”

The corner of her mouth twitched. “You make me very proud, sometimes, Jonas.”

He felt ten feet tall as they headed for the training room.

“Good evening, Mrs. Black. Mr. Black.”

“Good evening, Robert. Have you finished that report on Russian troop deployments?”

“I’ll have it to Chief Grady by midnight ma’am.”

“Good.”

“Evening, Alice,” a vampire said.

“Good evening, Micah. Are you visiting, or part of the team from Chicago?”

“Part of the reinforcements. And is this Jonas?”

“It is. Jonas, meet Micah. He’s an enforcer from Chicago; saved your father’s life, two years ago.”

Walking through the hallways with his mother was a different experience. People scattered in front of her like flotsam in front of a ship. They greeted her, and she answered, but instead of an attempt to connect, it was more of a combination of fear and awe, and hope her gaze wouldn’t linger too long. In those cases where she did, some of that awe transferred to the person under her scrutiny.

When they arrived at TR-5, Chief Grady was standing outside the room.

“Chief? Is something wrong?” Alice said.

“Slow night, ma’am,” he said, tapping his earpiece. “A few people heard you’d be testing the young master, here. Bunch of lollygaggers were hanging around in the hallway, hoping for a show, but not to worry; I chased them off.”

Alice crossed her arms and gave him a lopsided grin. “And now?”

“Making sure they don’t come back, of course.”

“Of course. Carry on, Chief.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, raising his thermos in a small salute.

Jonas followed her into the training room.

“Since you’re training as a stalker, we’ll focus on physical skills. To start, I want you to try to touch me,” Alice said.

Jonas frowned.

“Something wrong?”

He shook his head. “I just can’t believe playing tag is part of my evaluation.” He hadn’t really thought she was the physical type anyway; she’d taken a couple hits when that vampire had broken into their apartment in October.
Maybe this is just a warm up.

He reached for her. She vanished.

After a month of being smacked in the back of the head by Damien, he didn’t have to think about it. He kicked backward, then spun, swinging the back of his fist in an arc. Neither strike connected, because she was standing upside down on the ceiling. She dropped, inverted, and touched down as lightly as a bird. “Whenever you’re ready, Jonas.”

♘

Jonas sat with his back to the wall, panting, arms rested on his knees. He was thirsty and tired and sore.

He heard footsteps on the metal floor and looked up.

“Here you go, sir. Try this,” Chief Grady said, handing him the lid of his thermos, filled with blood.

Jonas tipped the lid back and the smell of rosemary filled his nostrils. The blood was cold and thin, tasted like rosemary, thyme, and wood, and had a slight tartness to it that coated his tongue. As soon as it hit his stomach, a small bloom of warmth spread through him, and then it was gone. “Wow,” he said. “What is that?”

“I call it ‘Holy Communion.’ One part whole blood, one part plasma. I infuse herbs in olive oil, and add a drop of that with some
pinot noir
.”

“You drink spiked blood at work?” Jonas asked, grinning.

Grady shook his head. “This isn’t what I had earlier, sir. I keep this for special occasions. Congratulations on passing your evaluation.”

“I don’t know if I’d call this passing.”

Grady shrugged. “I’ve seen worse.”

♘

“So, how did it go, kid?” Frank asked.

“I got my butt kicked by my mom,” Jonas answered resting his head against the van interior. “How do you think it went?”

Frank chuckled. “Mostly before my time, but I hear she’s kicked a lot of butts.”

“I heard her last fight with Damien was
epic
,” Jim said.

“She fought Damien?” Jonas asked.

Jim nodded. “I guess it used to be a thing, until she had you. He’d take a run at her every ten years or so. Never won, but the fights got a little longer each time.”

“Think they’ll do it again?” Frank asked.

“Dunno,” Jim said. “According to Viv, probably as soon as things calm down a bit.”

He called her Viv,
Jonas thought.
This is never going to feel normal.

“I’d like to see that,” Frank said.

Jonas closed his eyes. He just wanted this shift to be over. They were parked near Ocean’s Parkway in Bensonhurst, on the southwest side of Brooklyn, waiting for something to happen. He’d downloaded the soundtrack to
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
, because the dark, techno beat and angelic vocals fit his mood pretty well. The current track, “Everybody Dies,” wasn’t exactly cheerful; then again, he had a lot going on.

There were eight of them in the back of the armored van. Billy was sleeping. Jim and Frank alternated between dozing and talking about past missions as hunters and in the military before that. Three of the other soldiers were playing poker, and the fourth was playing a game on his phone.

“Huh,” Jonas said.

“What’s up, kid?”

Jonas pulled his earphones out. “I just remembered I’m getting paid to sit here.”

Jim grinned. “Yeah, Frank. Remember when we used to do this on our own dime?”

“My wife does.”

“Professional monster hunters,” Jim said.

“Life takers,” Billy said.

“Heartbreakers,” Frank added, grinning at Jim. Jim scowled. Frank stuck his fist out toward Billy, and Billy bumped it. Their fists exploded.

“Hey, Frank,” Jim said. “Remember that time with the kid and the two goats?”

Jonas smiled and put his earphones back in. He closed his eyes.
This isn’t so bad,
he thought, letting himself drift off to sleep.

♘

“Jonas, wake up!” Frank said, shaking his shoulder.

The van was moving, and the siren fired up. Everyone was checking their gear. As smooth as a rehearsal, Jonas inserted a magazine, racked the bolt, then pulled it back a third of the way to check there was a round loaded. He let the bolt spring closed and tapped the forward assist to make sure the round was seated, all in less than 4 seconds. “What’s up, Frank?” he said.

“Alright, listen up everyone. Silent alarm went off at 910 Utica - that’s between the cemetery and King’s Highway. Even with the light show, it’s going to take us 10 minutes to get there. Another team is closer, so we’re backup on this one. Let’s make sure we don’t get in their way.”

“What about local PD?” a soldier asked.

“Inbound, but told to stay out of the way,” Frank answered. “This one’s all ours. Jonas, can you get eyes on the shop?”

“I’ll try.” He reached around his body armor and pulled out the pendant.
Madoc?

Working on it,
the specter said.
Not so easy three miles away in a fast moving car.

The thread of green magic that linked Jonas to the pendant got thicker and brighter, and then he was there.

Madoc, what is your phylactery doing to me when it does that?

It’s draining your life force,
Madoc answered.

It’s what?

Madoc sighed.
You’re a vampire. If you were human, you would be losing days of your life every time you used it. As it is, you’ll just need more blood. Focus!

Madoc gave him a view of everything within a hundred yards, sort of. It was spotty; the things he focused on were clearer, but everything else popped in and out like an old video game.

It will improve as we get closer,
Madoc said.

It’s fine, Madoc,
Jonas answered. “Frank, can you hear me?”

“Yeah, kid, I can hear you. Go ahead.”

“The building’s a standard two-story brownstone, two car lengths wide and about three times as long. Back of the building is a small open space and single-family residences. No traffic in the street except parked cars.” Blue light played across the front of the buildings. “Cops just showed up. They’ve blocked off the street, but they’re keeping their distance.”

“Good. Can you make sure no one’s going out the back?”

“On it.” The view jumped to the back of the building. It wasn’t the most comfortable feeling - like reading in the back of a moving car, only worse. Once he got his bearings, he said, “Nothing here, Frank. Everything looks closed up tight. Heading to the front.”

“Okay. The other team’s arriving now.”

He jumped to the street again. The feeling of vertigo was still there, but the image was getting clearer. An agency van pulled up by one of the police cars, and the eight-man team spilled out the back. He recognized Micah from earlier that day, moving at the back of the column. “I’m going to look inside, Frank.”

The front door was closed. He walked through it. There were no lights, so Madoc showed everything in ghostly shades of blue and white, like Jonas was walking around a 3D wireframe of the store. “This place is trashed, Frank. Displays are broken, shelves knocked over… there’s so much stuff all over the place it’s going to be hard to figure out what’s missing.”

“Okay, Jonas. I’m relaying to the other team.”

“Cold storage is open. This place is huge, but I don’t see anyone. Madoc?”

I’m not sensing anything living, Jonas. Sorting through the clutter.

“There’s nothing here, Frank. It’s like they triggered the alarm and ran. Have any of the other places been hit?”

“Hold on, switching radios,” Frank said. He started talking to the op-center.

Jonas?

Just a second, Madoc.

Jonas, there are bombs in the store.

Jonas turned and saw several duffel bags stashed in the mess. He wouldn’t have spotted them, except Madoc made them glow bright red. “Frank, call them off!”

“What?”

“There’s a bomb!”

Time seemed to slow. He was vaguely aware of Frank scrambling for the other handset. There was a bright flash as the Agency team breached the door with a shotgun and the stack flowed in. Jonas could see in normal light as their flashlights lit the room, soldiers clearing the door quickly, as they’d been trained to.

“Abort, abort, abort!” Frank said.

One of the soldiers slipped on spilled cooking oil. The man behind him bent to grab his harness. Micah froze in the doorway, started to turn around. The bomb exploded.