CHAPTER Fourteen
The air felt different from London. It was about the same temperature, but there was a smoky quality to it, somehow making the atmosphere even more claustrophobic than normal. The road in front was remarkably wide with intricately designed buildings on either side that included uniformly arched windows and high rooftops. I felt a sudden longing for the clean crispness of the open countryside and wondered if I’d be doomed to spend the rest of my life in cities.
I couldn’t see anything remotely resembling a taxi, despite the heavy traffic, and I realised also that our unconventional mode of travel had meant we’d not managed to come across any form of money-changers. With no rubles, there would be no way to pay.
A battered boxy car pulled up alongside the curb and the driver wound down the window with what seemed like extraordinary effort. His face peered out, lined and weathered.
“Taxi?”
Alex appeared by my shoulder. “How much?”
A wide grin spread across the driver’s face. “Foreigner? Special price. Where you go?”
“We don’t have any money,” I hissed at the mage.
“Chillax,” he drawled back. “I’ve got it covered.”
I shot him a suspicious look. At least he had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. “I changed money this morning.”
“What if I’d refused to come?”
He shrugged. “Then I’d have changed it back. Or come myself.”
I raised my eyebrows slightly at that.
“What?” he said. “It’s not like there’ll be any fighting involved.”
I hoped he was right. I grunted and turned my attention back to the driver. Aubrey, apparently managing to have torn himself away from the seductive delights of the department store, moved forward then abruptly stopped.
“I’m not getting in that. Look at it. It’s covered in rust! It’ll probably fall apart as soon as we get in. I’ve got to take care myself now that I’m human, you know.”
“This car is good,” insisted the driver, banging the side of it with his arm. “Russian make. Very safe. Where you go?”
“Presny,” said Alex.
“It’s not even a taxi!” Aubrey cried. “It’s just a man with a car!”
“Your friend very scared,” the driver interjected, with an air of what could only be described as glee. “Is okay. I am bombily.” At our blank faces, he explained. “Private taxi driver. I take you to Presny for only thousand rubles.”
I gazed doubtfully at him. I had no idea how much that actually was, but it sounded a lot.
“Done!”
“Alex, we’re supposed to negotiate!”
“Who’s doing the paying here?”
Grumbling, I walked over to the back door and jerked the handle to open it. It didn’t budge so I tried again. Goddamnit. The driver opened his door and ambled around while I got out of his way. He used his left hand to pull down the handle while propping his right foot up on the side of the car for traction. The door fell open with an ominous creak. Flakes of paint flew off in every direction.
Smiling cheerily and holding the door open, the driver gestured inside. I sighed and clambered in, followed by Alex.
Aubrey put his hands on his hips. “I’m not doing it - it’s a deathtrap. I’d rather walk.”
I shrugged. “Okay, then.”
He stared at me incredulously, huffed, and got in. The driver slammed the door shut and got back into his own seat in the front. I reached back for the seatbelt, then realised there wasn’t one.
“Er…”
“Is okay, I am very safe driver!”
Without warning, the car lurched forward onto the road, as he put his foot down on the accelerator, revving the engine and speeding up alarmingly.
“What’s your name?” asked Alex.
“Vasily.”
“Okay, Vasily, we are going to Dobchek Road. Do you know where that is?”
“Of course, of course! No problem!” He reached over and turned a knob on the radio. Immediately, loud music with incomprehensible lyrics filled the space.
“I’m going to die,” moaned Aubrey as we screeched around a corner.
I was beginning to agree. Vasily shouted something from the front.
I leaned forward. “Pardon?”
He twisted his head around and looked at all three of us. “Business or pleasure?”
A truck loomed up ahead. “Vasily!”
He turned back to the front and slammed on his horn. “Russian truck drivers very bad.”
I breathed out. “Yes. Er, we’re here for business.”
“Good, good. You want I take you for sightsee first? Kremlin? Red Square?”
“No, thanks, Vasily, we must get on with our business. We don’t have a lot of time.”
“Sure, sure, I understand. I no want you get angry, breathe fire.”
Alex and I stiffened. Vasily let out a hearty laugh and waggled his finger in the mirror at me. “I see your picture. On Othernet. You shift dragon, no?”
F*cking hell.
“What does he mean?” Aubrey asked. “Shift dragon? What is that?”
“How do you know that, Vasily?” I asked, ignoring Aubrey for the time being.
He laughed again. “I am Zduhàc.”
“Joohatch?”
“Zduhàc!”
Of all the taxis in all the world. “What is a Zduhàc?”
“Supernatural man. Big power. I stop storms, help farmers…”
“Drive taxis?”
“Ah, no. I – how you say – give up Zduhàc to move to city. No money. Machinery help farms, no need me. Before I stop Ala, evil storm demon. Now I drive taxi like demon!” He thumped his steering wheel and chortled. “So you go Cherniy Volk?”
“How did you know?”
“Otherworld people always go Cherniy Volk. You know what means? Black Wolf. Many shifter at Cherniy Volk.” He laughed. “Many black wolf.”
“How about Karzelek? Any of them hang out there?”
“Dwarf? Little man? I never see.” He shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
I exchanged a look with Alex. I wasn’t exactly brimming with confidence that we’d find who we were looking for.
The taxi pulled to a shuddering stop. Vasily scrabbled around in his glove compartment and took out a small grubby card. “Here is my number. You need me, you call. Okay? I tell my friends I get crazy dragon girl in my taxi. They very impressed.”
“Actually, Vasily,” I said, taking the card, “we’re travelling incognito. In disguise. We’d really appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone about us.”
“Ah, secret?” He nodded vigorously. “You can trust me. I no tell. Or maybe you come eat me, eh?” He burst into yet another round of laughter.
“Thanks, dude,” said Alex, slapping him on the shoulder and handing over an array of crumpled notes to pay the fare.
Aubrey, face white as a sheet, rattled the door. “I can’t get out.” His voice started rising. “I can’t get out! I can’t get out! I’m going to be stuck here forever with this psycho demon hunting taxi driver and a dragon. Get me out! Get me out!”
“Aubrey, f*cking calm down,” I said, trying to hush him.
Vasily clambered out and did his hand and foot trick again, and the door sprung open. Aubrey fell out, then half ran, half crawled to the pavement in his haste to get away. Alex shook the driver’s hand, as did I. His grip was surprisingly strong, and he winked at me when I finally managed to extricate my throbbing fingers.
“You need help, you call me!” He kicked shut the door, got back into his seat then, with an engine that sounded like it was an ogre with a sore throat, revved back up and screeched off in a cloud of choking blue smoke.
We watched him go, then Alex turned to Aubrey who was sitting on the edge of the dirty pavement, hugging his knees. At least he’d calmed down.
“You alright, dude?”
“No.”
“Excellent.”
He pouted up at me. “You didn’t tell me you were a dragon.”
I felt a flicker of guilt. “I’m sorry. It was a secret.”
“A secret? Even the crazy taxi driver knew! How could I not know? After everything we’ve been through, Mack.” He sounded genuinely hurt.
“I’m sorry. If it helps, I didn’t want anyone to know. And I’m not really a dragon. I’m what’s called a Draco Wyr.”
“That’s why I’m like this, isn’t it? Why I’m human. That’s why your blood tasted funny when I drank you. Not because of that herbal stuff you said you’d had.”
“Yeah.”
He buried his head in his arms. F*ck. I didn’t really know what to say.
“I didn’t know if I could trust you, Aubrey. You were a vampire after all.”
He didn’t answer. Alex twisted uncomfortably and looked up at the sign hanging by the door in front of us, trying to change the subject.
“I guess this is it. Let’s see what we can find.”
I shook my head. “I can’t.”
“What?”
“Vasily knew who I was, Alex. My picture must be all over the freaking Othernet. If I go in there, it’s not going to help us. Not only will it be all over the wires that we’re here, but I’ll spend the entire time being inundated with bloody dragon stuff. We can’t afford that kind of distraction.”
He swallowed, suddenly looking nervous. “Damn it. I don’t even think my Illusion ability is strong enough to hold a glamour. You’re right, Mack Attack. I can wait out here with you, and Aubrey can go in.”
We both looked down at the ex-vamp who whimpered and drew his knees closer to his chest.
“Okay,” backtracked Alex, “Aubrey and I will go in together. Alright, Aubs?”
He made a small sound of agreement and got to his feet. “I don’t like this. My life was much simpler when I was dead. I don’t know why you’re sending me in anyway when you don’t trust me.”
“I trust you now. You can do it, Aubrey,” I said, with much more conviction than I felt. “Be a man. Remember how you thought all this was exciting less than an hour ago.”
He looked at me miserably. It would have been easier if he’d just been pissed off. The way he looked right now, like a puppy who had been abandoned, was almost too much to bear. He had a point; I should have told him when I’d realised that it was coming out all over the Othernet. He deserved that much. Not sure about what to say to make things better, I jerked my head across the street, where a suitably dark alley sat just waiting.
“I’ll be in there. Try not to get yourselves into too much trouble.”
The pair of them nodded, then pushed open the door to the bar. Sounds of chatter and a drifting cloud of smoke seeped out, then vanished as the door shut behind them. I remained standing there for a moment, just on the off-chance that they were immediately turfed out again on their arses. When nothing seemed to happen, I jogged over to the alley and hid myself amongst the shadows, settling in to wait.
*
The moon was high in the sky when they finally re-emerged. I’d been waiting for what had seemed like an eternity, shifting position, and watching the various patrons of the Cherniy Volk come in and out. There was indeed a motley crew of Otherworld creatures. Unfortunately, I’d not seen anything resembling a dwarf, let alone a mine-dwelling, palladium-finding Karzelek. The night air was considerably colder than it had been when we’d arrived in the early evening and I’d had to keep jumping around and running on the spot to keep my circulation going. I’d been pissing myself off with imagining the unlikely pair sitting propped up at the bar, drinking gallons of Russian vodka, and generally having a fantastic time. Then I had pissed myself off more by remembering the look on Aubrey’s face before he’d gone in. Life had certainly been a lot easier when no-one had known who – or what – I was.
When Alex came out, he made some kind of quick surreptitious gesture over in my direction before he was joined by Aubrey and one other. I couldn’t make out exactly who their new companion was, other than that she was female, with long white hair, and must have been at least six and a half feet tall. This was no dwarf. I hoped that the boys weren’t just trying to take advantage of some of Moscow’s less desirable nightlife offerings. The three of them set off down the street with purpose, however, as if they knew where they were going. I followed at a safely discreet distance, keeping my footsteps light and staying close to the shadows of the looming buildings, just in case the woman should decide to suddenly turn around. She seemed, for the most part, to be engaged in earnest conversation with both of them, however, at one point even linking her arms through theirs in a companionable fashion.
Turning left when they reached the end of the street, I lost sight of them for a few moments. I jogged to catch up, just to make sure I didn’t lose them, but when I reached the edge of the last building and peered around, there was no sign of them. Cursing slightly under my breath, I picked up speed, running lightly and keeping my eyes peeled. Thankfully, I soon heard their voices down a near side street.
“He’s just down this way. It’s fortunate really that I bumped into you. He’s a good friend of mine so I’m sure he’ll be happy to help two friendly strangers in a foreign land with a small favour,” she was saying, with just the faintest hint of a Russian accent.
That sounded hopeful, as if she was leading them somewhere, and to someone, who might actually be a Karzelek. I’d believe it when I saw it though. I waited a moment or two until their voices were further away, before skirting round and pressing myself against the rough wall as I moved down in their direction. The three of them then stopped abruptly up ahead. I halted too, right across from a trio of metal dustbins, which were filled to overflowing. A fleabitten looking rat was perched on top of one, blinking at me. I gave it a half-smile, as if in greeting. It twitched its nose in return, then delved inside the rubbish with only its tail still visible.
I cocked my head, trying to hear what was going on up ahead. I could only make out snatches of words here and there though. Unfortunately, there was a streetlight illuminating the area they were in, so I couldn’t move any nearer without potentially giving myself away. I leaned forward, straining my ears when suddenly, somewhere, a door banged and there was a long loud shout that sounded like ‘booooka’. I jumped about half a foot in the air, then a huge shape that seemed to be of the stuff of nightmares emerged from one of the buildings. Shit. Without any suggestion of preamble it reached out, picking Aubrey up by the scruff of his neck and threw him to one side as if he weighed next to nothing. Without waiting any longer, I pushed off from the wall and sprang forward, the familiar burn of bloodfire sparking up inside me. Yeah, this had just been too good to be true.
The woman half turned, realising that someone was coming. I yelled at Alex to get away, but he was trapped between the two of them. Pelting down the street, I sent down a plume of green fire. It caught on the woman’s white hair, instantly setting it alight. She shrieked, hands grabbing at her long locks in a vain effort to put out the flames. In that instant, I reached her and grabbed her arms and pulled back on the collar of her jacket. Then, I thrust her forward again and her head bounced off the wall. She fell, dazed. One down.
Pushing Alex behind me, I turned to the second nastie, then blinked as its features became clearer. It had vast gnarled horns on top of its head and, what appeared to be, four…five… no, six f*cking legs. How in the hell were they all attached? I craned my neck upwards. It was about two freaking storeys high. Well, the bigger they are, the harder they fall, I figured. I jetted out more flame towards it, aiming for what appeared to be a vulnerable section in its belly. The thing’s eyes seemed to narrow for a moment, as if in thought, then it huffed out and launched a kick towards me.
I only just managed to jump out of the way in time, feeling the air whooshing past my head as the creature’s leg almost connected. I crouched down, then sprang up with as much power and bounce as I could muster, kicking off the wall and reaching upwards. I’d been aiming to lock my hands around its neck, but unless I’d suddenly morphed into a red-headed version of Spiderman there was no way I was going to get up that high. Instead I managed to link one arm around its bicep. With the other, I lashed out and upwards trying to claw into its skin. What I hit was so leathery and hard, however, it was clear that was equally a non-starter. Pursing my lips slightly, I ran backwards to where the dustbins were and grabbed one of the metal lids. I snapped back my arm and then flung the lid out, just like a Frisbee. It soared into the air, heading straight for its target and caught the monster in between its nose and its lip. It snarled loudly. Finally.
Unfortunately for me, it was a fast learner. It picked up the dustbin lid where it had clattered on the ground and flung it back in my direction. The force and speed meant that, despite my best efforts to get out of the way, it still caught me on my upper arm. I yelled out at the burst of sudden pain. Okay. Now I was getting annoyed.
I twisted back round to face it. It really was a big bastard. I felt a ripple of trepidation, then made my decision. Picturing my little match in my head, I stared down at my hands, willing them to transform. My bones creaked and there was a snap of pain, and all of a sudden I looked like I had on two oversized red mittens. Well, red mittens with lethal talons at the end of them anyway. I lifted up my eyes to the creature and then leapt right at it, claws extended. I thrust into its flesh, gouging out a trail that ripped through its lower belly. It bellowed in pain and clumsily turned around, its legs getting tangled up before, somehow, untwisting itself and galloping away into the night.
I watched it go, wondering how this fight would have worked out had I been confident enough to fully transform. At least it meant I felt more in control of my Draco Wyr nature, if nothing else, and that I was more desperate to learn how to fully transform with that same control firmly in place. It was a relief to not feel terrified at the prospect of giving myself over to the dragon. I darted over to Aubrey and checked on him, although his groans had already indicated that he wasn’t in any real danger, and helped him up to his feet.
“When I was a vampire, these kinds of things didn’t happen,” he grumbled, rubbing his head where it had smashed against the wall. He sent me a look filled with malevolence. “Being around you should carry a health warning.”
I felt a wave of relief. I could deal with this kind of attitude much better than I could with abject sadness.
“Really? Because last time I checked you were begging to be allowed to stick around so that I could protect you,” I scoffed. “And besides this one’s all on you. I wasn’t the one following strange women out of dodgy bars.”
He glared at me. I grinned in return.
“You should have told me, Mack. I would have a kept it a secret.”
“I know.” I reached out and squeezed him on the shoulder.
He gave me a half smile in return. The lack of hysterics from him was reassuring. I held his eyes for a moment, then turned around to check to see whether Alex was anywhere within the vicinity. He was standing over the crumpled body of the woman, frowning. I strolled over and joined him.
“So what actually happened?” I asked. “You reek of alcohol.”
“I spilled some vodka down my shirt,” he commented. “I was trying to look as if I was drinking without really drinking, if you see what I mean.”
“And her?” I jerked my head down.
He rubbed his forehead. “We asked around. Nobody knew of any Karzeleks, apart from her. She said she was mates with one and would take us to meet him.”
“You know you just fell for the oldest trick in the book, right?”
“Why do you think I made sure you were following? It did occur to me that she might be leading us astray, Mack. I’m not a complete idiot.” The stress in his voice was palpable, making me feel instantly guilty.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out, Alex. You knew it was always going to be a long shot though.”
He looked at me dolefully for a moment, then back down at the woman. “The monster that jumped out. What kind of freaky Otherworld thing was that?”
I opened my mouth to tell him I had no idea, when a deep voice from within the shadows several feet away suddenly interrupted. “Buka. They normally hang around in lakes, waiting to drown unsuspecting victims. Goodness only knows what it’s doing in the city. You did well to get rid of it.”
The voice’s owner stepped out into a patch of moonlight. Interesting. He was clearly a shifter, but he appeared unfeasibly large, even when compared to Corrigan. He had coarse dark hair and glittering black eyes, along with a moustache. Usually, I found facial hair a bit of a turn off but, somehow, on this guy, it was rather appealing. His whole image was rather debonair, in a swashbuckling kind of way. He kept his distance from us, sensing that I certainly wasn’t in the mood for any surprises, and looked down at the woman.
“She’s a Shishiga. Known for generally bringing misfortune to drunks. I have to apologise. If I’d been aware that she was in the bar, I’d have thrown her out long before. I was in the back, dealing with some business.”
“Oh yeah?” blustered Aubrey, “and who the hell are you?”
It was a f*cking good question.
The man smiled disarmingly. “I’m Cherniy Volk. The Black Wolf. I hear you’re looking for a Karzelek and I think I may just be able to help.”