Gods and Swindlers (City of Eldrich Book 3) (17 page)

Buzz nodded. “That’s them. Even trolls can get hammered on that rocket fuel they brew.”

“You sure you want to go out there in this shit?” Gretchen asked.

“No,” Buzz said. “But I haven’t been able to get in touch with them for a few days, and if we’re in for the blow they say we are, I need to make sure they’re okay. Even a troll can freeze to death if you drop enough snow on it. And they’re only part troll.”

“Where you sleeping, Buzzy?” Gretchen winked at him.

“Don’t know, Gretch,” Buzz said. “You offering?”

“Bring a few jars of ’shine back and you can sleep with me,” Gretchen said. “I promise I won’t get too rough with you.”

Buzz grinned. “Gretch, you’re the most wicked witch I know.”

Chapter Twenty-One

M
EAGHAN TOOK BUZZ
aside before he left, told him nobody had heard from Natalie since the morning, and asked him to run by her house to check if she was there.

“Jamie know?” Buzz asked.

Meaghan shook her head. “I don’t want him to worry until we know there’s something to worry about.”

Meaghan waved through the living room window as they plowed their way out of Holly Lane.

Dustin walked into the living room wearing a worried look.

“I can’t get through to the archive,” he said. “My hex bag isn’t working and neither are the sigils.”

Meaghan’s stomach clenched with worry, but she kept her voice steady. “Any idea why you can’t get through?”

Dustin shrugged. “It’s Eldrich. There’s so much magic flying around this town. That could be a problem.” He looked outside and shivered. “Or maybe it’s this weather.”

“But doesn’t the magic help boost the signal? That’s the way it’s always been explained to me.”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought, too. Do you know any reason why anybody might cast a dampening spell? Something to deflect magic?”

“Well, yeah. That thing downstairs.”

Dustin shook his head. “Already took it into account. It’s not Gran and Lynette doing this. It’s something else.”

“Gran? Gretchen’s your grandmother?”

“On my dad’s side. I thought you knew that.”

“I don’t know anything it seems.”
Although on the scale of magical secrets, that’s a pretty minor one.
“You’re from Eldrich?”

“No, I grew up in Ohio. Mom and Gran don’t get along very well. Mom hates the whole magic thing. I spent some summers here, though, when I started showing signs I had ability.”

“But the thought of hanging with all those crazy old ladies made you decide to be a hacker instead of a wizard?”

“Yeah.” Dustin laughed. “Something like that. Gran and Melanie hooked me up with the archive job. Said I could use both my talents that way.”

“Right now I need your magical expertise.” Meaghan looked through the window at the house across the street. “Could you use a dampening spell to hide magical ability? To make yourself look like a normal human?”

Dustin plopped down in the armchair near the sofa. “Yeah, I guess you could. But usually magical types with any juice want to show off their power. You don’t hide it. You flaunt it. Try to look bigger and badder than you are.”

“But if you did want to hide, would you use a dampening spell?”

“Maybe, but there’re easier ways to do it.” Dustin chewed his lower lip, thinking. “Generally, dampening spells are to shut somebody down, like an enemy or somebody with more juice than they can handle. You know anybody like that?”

Meaghan nodded. “Yeah. I think I might.” She pulled her phone out of her back pocket. She surveyed her caller list. Which one of the band of conspirators to call first?

Before she made up her mind, the phone rang in her hand.

“You know where Natalie is?” Owen barked before Meaghan had a chance to say hello.

“No,” Meaghan said. “Last I saw her, she was heading into the archive through the gateway in my office. You know anything about somebody around here casting dampening spells? That might be interfering with efforts to contact the archive?”

“Uh . . .”

“Owen, I’m done bullshitting around on this.”

Meaghan heard Owen say, “They won’t let me,” to somebody else, then in the background, a male voice said, “If she’s as good as you say, she can handle it. Give me that.” There were the muffled sounds of a phone being handed off.

“Hi, Meaghan,” the mystery voice said.

“Who’s this?”

“I’m Luka, Terry’s cousin.” His voice was a warm baritone, without a trace of an eastern European accent. “We need to talk.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Meaghan said.

“Under the circumstances, I think meeting over here would be best. Bring your monk with you and we’ll see what we can do to restore communication with the archive.”

“On my way.” She nodded to Dustin. “Get your coat. We’re going across the street.”

Even the short trip across Holly Lane felt like an expedition. The air was bitterly cold, colder than it had been all winter, and the snow fell so fast it stung Meaghan’s face. New snow already covered the plowed roadway, and the wind was beginning to kick up, drifting even more snow across the road.

She was halfway past the buried car in Terry’s driveway before she realized it was her Audi, rescued from the forest. Not that it made any difference. Even with all-wheel drive, Meaghan didn’t have the winter driving skills to tackle this kind of weather. This snowstorm felt lethal. It felt dangerous in a way the rest of winter hadn’t. This weather would quickly kill anyone foolish enough to venture into it unprepared.

The front door opened, a rectangle of warm orange light shining in the swirling white snow.

Meaghan slipped and Dustin caught her arm before she fell. Together they trudged up the porch steps.

A middle-aged man with short reddish brown hair, wearing a muted blue turtleneck that looked like cashmere, stood in the doorway, smiling, then stepped aside to let them in.

The living room had been tidied up since the morning, with the drop cloths pulled off the furniture and the construction materials shoved into a corner. A fire glowed in the hearth. A big leather sofa and a couple of armchairs had been pulled up close, and Terry, Steph, Owen, and Melanie huddled near the fire.

“Where’s John?” Meaghan asked.

“Upstairs taking a nap.” Terry stood up and walked toward them. “Meaghan, my cousin Luka. Luka, Meaghan.”

She surveyed Luka. He was a pleasant looking man, not handsome exactly, but he had a warm twinkle in his blue eyes. Nothing about him betrayed him as a man of wealth or power. He seemed normal, average even. Nothing about him set off her alarm bells.

Or at least nothing would have if she hadn’t already known he was several thousand years old and possessed magical skills of some sort. With this man, first impressions were deceiving.

“You have questions,” he said, smiling.

“I do,” Meaghan said. “Are you going to answer them?”

He nodded. “I’ll try.”

“Do we have to freeze our asses off in Terry’s little magic-proof shed in the backyard while you do it so the bad guys don’t hear us?”

Luka laughed. “No, no. There’s no point now. They know we’re here.”

“Can’t they hear what we’re saying?”

He shook his head. “Not if I don’t want them to.”

Meaghan raised an eyebrow. “One of your magical gifts?”

Luka nodded. “One of them.”

“You a wizard?” Dustin asked.

Luka smiled. “Dustin, right?”

“Yeah,” Meaghan said. “Sorry. I should have introduced you.”

“No,” Luka said. “I’m not a wizard. More a conjurer really. It’s mostly parlor tricks with a few helpful additions. They know we’re talking, but I can throw up enough magical noise to keep them from hearing what we’re saying.”

Meaghan saw her chance and went for it. “Dampening spells help with that?”

Melanie began coughing.

Luka smiled. “You’re like your father. I told them we couldn’t hide anything from you for long. Have a seat.”

He offered Dustin and Meaghan the armchairs, while Terry pulled a couple of metal folding chairs out of the corner.

Luka frowned slightly at the dusty chair. Terry snorted and wiped the seat with the sleeve of his sweater. “There, your highness. All nice and shiny.”

“All right,” Luka said, ignoring Terry. “Ask your questions.”

Meaghan nodded. “Who the hell are you?”

Luka laughed. “You don’t waste any time, do you?”

“No,” Meaghan said, “and questions don’t count as answers.”

“I’ve had a lot of names over the years. And I’m older than I look.”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it. Immortal from a magical accident.”

Luka nodded, but didn’t add anything.

Meaghan sighed. Time for a different strategy
.
“I get you guys want to leave the past in the past. Let’s narrow this down. What’s your beef with the fair folk?”

Luka sighed and ran his hand through his short hair. “They don’t like us much.”

“They don’t like any humans much. What makes you special? Besides your longevity?”

“With long life comes long memory and too many opportunities to cross paths,” Luka said. “We—Terry, Steph, Owen, and I—haven’t always been the model citizens we are now.”

“Huh,” Terry said. “I’ll say.”

Meaghan looked his way. “No. You used to be major dicks, right?”

Owen snorted back a laugh.

“Not all of us,” Luka said, his blue eyes twinkling. “Owen and I were always charming. Dishonest, but charming as could be. Most swindlers are.”

“Ah,” Meaghan said and looked over at Owen. “I thought you were a legitimate businessman.”

“I am,” Owen said, indignation in his voice. “Now,” he added after a moment.

“But once upon a time you were a more typical leprechaun?”

Owen glared at her. “Never. Those guys are idiots. Small-time thugs with no style and no brains. Even when I worked with them, I was always trying to find a way out.”

“And one day,” Luka said, “he was in a small village in what’s now suburban Dublin trying to collect a debt from a certain smith—”

Terry grinned. “A bronze axe I’d lost in a wager. Had a problem with gambling for a while, too.”

Meaghan nodded. “And then the world blew up.”

Luka smiled. “And Owen found himself with new skills and new friends.”

“After you pried Terry’s hands off my throat,” Owen said. “He thought I’d caused the explosion. Hell, everyone thought I’d caused the explosion, including the fair folk.”

“And did you?” Meaghan asked.

Owen glared at her. “Of course not. It created a damn demiworld, and look what it did to these guys. That’s takes huge scary power.”

“Um . . .” Dustin held up his hand. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we need to contact the archive.? I’m getting really worried. I’ve never had my hex bag not work before. It’s like somebody changed the locks.”

Luka nodded. “It’s probably the dampening magic. Let me see it.”

Dustin pulled a small leather bag out of his jeans pocket and handed it to Luka.

Luka held it between his hands, eyes shut, and muttered something. “There, that should—”

Meaghan felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. She looked around the room. It wasn’t only her. Everyone’s hair was floating with static electricity.

“Oh,
shit.
” Terry jumped up, put one foot on the sofa and pushed hard. The sofa, still holding Steph, Melanie, and Owen, skidded back several feet.

Luka grabbed Dustin and Meaghan out their armchairs, wrapped his arms around them, and pushed them to the floor.

Over Luka’s shoulder, Meaghan saw Terry grab his metal folding chair and hold it above his head. There was a blinding flash of light and a huge cracking sound and everything went dark.

Chapter Twenty-Two

M
EAGHAN FELT SOMEONE
lying on top of her. She had a moment of panic—
the bitch needs to learn her place—
and shoved hard. The weight rolled off her.

She smelled something burning, almost a chemical smell, and heard running footsteps. A moment later, she felt rough calloused hands patting her face.

Meaghan opened her eyes and saw John’s face in the dim orange light from the fireplace. “Mmm.” She shook her head trying to clear it. “I’m okay. Check the others.”