I slowed my mule to a walk. The temperature had plummeted in the past week, and the night was bitterly, unseasonably cold. The wind cut at my face. Faint clouds of breath fluttered from the guys at the bar. A couple of the larger guys sported some hardware: a big, rough-hewn man on the right carried a mace, and his pal on the left wielded a machete. Bouncers. Only bouncers would be allowed to have real weapons in the bar.
I scanned the crowd for telltale glowing eyes. Nothing. Just the normal human irises. If there had been shapeshifters in the bar tonight, theyad either cleared off or kept their human skins securely on. I didnat sense any vampires nearby either. No familiar faces in the crowd. The journeymen mustave taken off, too.
Something bad went down, and n.o.body wanted to be tarred by it. And now it was all mine. Oh, goodie.
Marigold carried me past the human wreckage and to the doorway. I pulled out the clear-plastic wallet I carried on a cord around my neck, and held it up so they could see the small rectangle of the Order ID.
aKate Daniels. I work for the Order. Where is the owner?a A tall man stepped from the inside of the bar and leveled a crossbow at me. It was a decent modern recurve crossbow, with close to two hundred pounds of draw weight.
It came equipped with a fiber-optic sight and a Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( scope. I doubted head need either to hit me at ten feet. At this distance the bolt wouldnat just penetrate; it would go through me, taking my guts for a ride on its fletch.
Of course, at this distance I might kill him before he got off a shot.
The man fixed me with grim eyes. Middle-aged and thin, he looked as if head spent too much time outdoors doing hard labor and it had melted all the flesh off his bones, leaving only leathery skin, gunpowder, and gristle. A short dark beard hugged his jaw. He nodded to the smaller bouncer. aVik, check the ID.a Vik sauntered over and looked at my wallet. aIt says what she said it did.a I was too tired for this. aYouare looking at the wrong thing.a I took the card out of the wallet and offered it to him. aSee the square in the bottom left corner?a His gaze flicked to the square of enchanted silver.
aPut your thumb over it and say, aID.a a Vik hesitated, glanced at his boss, and touched the square.
aID.a A burst of light punched his thumb, and the square turned black.
aThe card knows youare not its owner. No matter how many of you mess with it, it will stay black until I touch it.a I placed my finger over the silver. aID.a The black vanished, revealing the pale surface.
aThatas how you tell a real Order agent from a fake one.a I dismounted and tied Marigold to the rail. aNow, where is the corpse?a The bar owner introduced himself as Cash. Cash didnat strike me as the trusting kind, but at least he kept his crossbow pointed at the ground as he led me behind the building and to the left. Since his choice of Order representatives was limited to me and Marigold, he decided to take his chances with me. Always nice Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( to be judged more competent than a mule.
The crowd of onlookers tagged along as we circled the building. I couldave done without an audience, but I didnat feel like arguing. Iad wasted enough time playing magic tricks with my ID.
aWe run a tight ship here,a Cash said. aQuiet. Our regulars donat want trouble.a The night wind flung the sour stench of decomposing vomit in my face, and a touch of an entirely different scent, syrupy thick, harsh, and cloying. Not good. There was no reason for the body to smell yet. aTell me what happened.a aA man started trouble with Joshua. Joshua lost,a Cash said.
Head missed his calling. He shouldave been a saga poet.
We reached the back of the building and stopped. A huge, ragged hole gaped in the side of the bar where someone had busted out through the wall. Bricks lay scattered across the asphalt. Whoever the creature was, he could punch through solid walls like a wrecking ball.
aDid one of your shapeshifter regulars do that?a aNo. They all cleared off once the fight started.a aWhat about the Peopleas journeymen?a aDidnat have any tonight.a Cash shook his head. aThey usually come on Thursdays. Weare here.a Cash pointed to the left, where the ground sloped down to a parking lot punctuated by a utility pole in its center. Joshua hung on the pole, pinned by a crowbar thrust through his open mouth. Parts of him were covered by tanned leather and jeans. Everything uncovered no longer looked human. Hard b.u.mps cl.u.s.tered on every inch of his exposed skin, dark red and interrupted by lesions and wet, gaping ulcers, as if the man had become a human barnacle. The crust of sores was so thick on his face I couldnat even distinguish his Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( features, except for the milky eyes, opened wide and staring at the sky.
My stomach sank. All traces of fatigue fled, burned in a flood of adrenaline.
aDid he look like that before the fight started?a Please say yes.
aNo,a Cash said. aIt happened after.a A cl.u.s.ter of b.u.mps over what might have been Joshuaas nose shifted, bulged outward, and fell, giving s.p.a.ce to a new ulcer. The fallen piece of Joshua rolled on the asphalt and stopped. The pavement around it sprouted a narrow ring of flesh-colored fuzz. The same fuzz coated the pole below and slightly above the body. I concentrated on the lower edge of the fuzz line and saw it creep very slowly down the wood.
f.u.c.k.
I kept my voice low. aDid anybody touch the body?a Cash shook his head. aNo.a aAnybody go near it?a aNo.a I looked into his eyes. aI need you to get everyone back into the bar and keep them there. n.o.body leaves.a aWhy?a he asked.
I had to level with him, or he wouldnat work with me.
aJoshuaas diseased.a aHeas dead.a aHis bodyas dead, but the disease is alive and magic. Itas growing. Itas possible that everyoneas infected.a Cash became very still. His eyes widened, and he glanced through the hole and into the bar. I followed his gaze. A dark-haired woman, slight and bird-boned, wiped up the spills on the counter, sliding broken gla.s.s into a wastebasket with her rag. I looked back at Cash and saw fear.
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( I kept my voice quiet. aIf you want her to live, you have to herd everyone back into the bar and keep them from leaving. Tie them up if you have to, because if they take off, weall have an epidemic. Once the people are secure, call Biohazard. Tell them Kate Daniels says we have a Mary. Give them the address. I know itas hard, but you have to be calm. Donat panic.a aWhat will you do?a aIall try to contain it. Iall need salt, as much as youave got.
Wood, kerosene, alcohol, whatever you have that might burn. I have to build a flame barrier. Youave got pool tables?a He stared at me, uncomprehending.
aDo you have pool tables, Cash?a I asked again.
aYes.a I dropped my cloak on the slope. aPlease bring me your pool chalk. All of it.a He swallowed. If he panicked, the crowd would scatter and infect half the city.
aI need your help. Work with me.a Cash walked away from me and spoke to the bouncers.
aAlright,a the bigger bouncer bellowed. aEverybody back into the bar. One round on the house.a The crowd headed into the bar through the hole in the wall.
One man hesitated. The bouncers moved in on him. aInto the bar,a Vik said.
The guy thrust his chin into the air. af.u.c.k off.a Vik sank a quick, hard punch into his gut. The man folded in half, and the bigger bouncer slung him over his shoulder and headed back into the Steel Horse.
Two minutes later, I dumped a three-inch-wide ring of salt around the pole. Cash emerged from the hole in the tavern carrying some broken crates, followed by the dark-haired woman with a large box. Cash dropped Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( the crates. The woman handed me the box, filled with blue squares of pool chalk, and caught a glimpse of Joshua on the pole. The blood drained from her face.
aDid you call Biohazard?a I asked.
aPhoneas out,a Cash said softly.
Can something go right for me today?
aDoes that change things?a Cash asked.
It changed a short-term fix into a long-term defense. aIall just have to work harder to keep it put.a We didnat speak as I arranged the wood into a circle around the pole. The fire wouldnat hold it indefinitely, but it would buy me some time.
The flesh-colored fuzz tested the salt and found it delicious.
Figured. I didnat feel any different, and I was closest to the body, so Iad be the first one to go. A comforting thought.
Cash had brought down some bottles, and I dumped their contents onto the crates, soaking the wood in hard liquor and kerosene. One flick of a match, and the wooden ring flared into flames.
aIs that it?a Cash asked.
aNo. The fire will delay it, but not for long.a The two of them looked as though they were at a funeral.
aIt will be okay.a Kate Daniels, agent of the Order. We take care of your magic problems, and when we canat, we lie through our teeth. aIt will all turn out. You two go inside now. Keep the peace and keep trying the phone.a The woman brushed Cashas sleeve with her fingers. He pivoted to her, patted her hand, and together they went back into the tavern.
The fuzz crawled halfway across the salt. I began to chant, going through the roster of purifying incantations. Magic built around me slowly, like cotton candy winding on the spire of my body and flowing Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( outward, around the flame circle.
The fuzz reached the fire. The first flesh-colored tendrils licked the boards and melted into black goo with a weak hiss. The flames popped with the sickening stench of burning fat. Thatas right, you sonovab.i.t.c.h. Stay the h.e.l.l behind my fire. Now I just had to keep it still until I finished the first ward circle.
Chanting, I grabbed the pool chalk and drew the first glyph.
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end.