CHAPTER Fifteen
Volk took us back to his bar, allowing us to enter through a discreet back entrance that led into a private area. Aubrey and Tom carried the woman between them, taking an arm each and looking for all the world as if they were merely helping out a friend who’d had one too many vodkas. At Volk’s behest, they left her locked in the bar’s small cellar area. I had to admit I was slightly suspicious as to his intentions with her. Not that I cared that much about the well-being of someone who preyed on vulnerable victims in order to strip them of their cash and valuables – or worse – but I wasn’t quite prepared to leave her entirely to the wolves, so to speak. However, he dug out a mobile phone and spoke low guttural Russian into it, then hung up and grimaced at us.
“Bratstvo. I believe you would call them the Brethren? They will come and collect her and take her far out of the city where she will not bother anyone for a long time. Russia is a very large country. There are many places on the outer edges that are…difficult.”
“They’re going to take her to some kind of prison camp?” I asked, appalled.
He laughed. “Oh no. We may have done that in our past, but certainly not nowadays. They will simply leave her in a frozen wood somewhere. She won’t die. She’ll just be very cold. And very far away.”
“What about the Buka?”
“They are simple minded creatures. Without her around to lead him, he will return to whichever lake he came from.”
“You sound very confident about that.”
“I know my country and my countrymen,” he replied, simply.
Alex twitched, clearly wanting to cut to the chase. “So, dude, you can find us a Karzelek?”
“Of course.” Volk smiled, baring his teeth. “I can even help you encourage her to do what it is that you want.”
“Her?”
“Katya. She is a friend of the family.” His eyes glinted. “In a way.”
“And what do you want in return?”
“What makes you think I want anything?”
None of us bothered answering.
He thrust his arms up in the air in an expressive shrug. “You have seen through me.”
I rolled my eyes. Imagine that.
“There is something you can do for me,” Volk continued. He looked at me. “I have seen on the Othernet that you have a relationship with Lord Corrigan.”
I moved my weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “Not exactly.”
“But you know him. Intimately.”
Jeez. My cheeks flamed in embarrassment. If I ever came across the author of that f*cking Othernet blog, I would make very sure that they died a long and painful death.
“I guess. We’re not really on speaking terms though, so if you want something from him, then I can’t help.”
“All I want is a bit of quid pro quo. Tit for tat. I will introduce you to Katya, and you will introduce me to Leah.”
Leah? I frowned. I’d heard that name before.
“Lord Corrigan’s sister,” Volk supplied helpfully.
I started. Sister? Since when had Corrigan had a f*cking sister? I knew who she was now that he’d mentioned it. She was the girl I’d seen going into Alcazon with him, just before the events with Endor at Haughmond Hill. I’d assumed she was his girlfriend, or consort, or something like that. I’d never heard anyone mention any family in relation to Corrigan. I realised that I didn’t really know the Lord Alpha at all.
“You want to meet his sister?” I asked suspiciously. “Why?”
“Now it is my turn to blush,” Volk said, without actually looking embarrassed in the slightest. “I have met her before. I like her. I would like to meet her again.”
“Dude, why don’t you just call her?” Alex was looking very puzzled.
I shot Aubrey a quick glance. He was eyeing Volk as if he was some strange new species that he’d just come across.
The Russian sucked in breath through his teeth. “We didn’t really part on the best of terms. There’s a chance she won’t take my call. I think things will work better if we could ‘accidentally’ bump into each other.”
Accidentally? This was all starting to sound rather Machiavellian. Or, at the very least, like high school.
“How do we know she doesn’t completely hate your guts and that seeing you will be traumatic and distressing for her?” I asked. “Maybe there’s a very good reason for her not to want to talk to you.”
He looked pained. “I am happy for you to be present. I would not dare risk the wrath of a dragon, after all. I just need to see her again face to face.”
The dragon comment irked me. However, I had to admit he seemed genuine.
“I’m not sure how quickly I’ll be able to manage it,” I said finally. “It’s not as if I actually know her. And there are other things going on with the Brethren and myself that may delay matters.”
Alex was momentarily put out. “Not just with the Brethren and you.”
“With a lot of the Otherworlders in the UK,” I amended.
“If you give me your word that you will engineer a meeting as soon as you can, then that’s good enough for me.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“I’m a pretty good judge of character.”
For a werewolf, he was remarkably earnest. I looked at Alex and Aubrey and they both gave me slight nods of agreement. I sighed.
“Okay, then. But if I get the slightest hint that she really doesn’t want to see you because it’ll upset her, or if you’re going to do something that would harm her in any way, the whole deal is off.”
“I would expect nothing else.” Volk smiled, and this time I got the sense of genuine friendship from him.
I smiled back. “Now about that Karzelek? I’m afraid we’re rather under the kibosh as far as time is concerned.”
“She’s already outside.”
Alex beamed. “Bring her in!”
“As you wish.” Volk left the room.
I turned to the other two. “I hope this guy is alright.”
“Alright? Dude, he’s amazeballs.”
I threw Alex a droll look. “Did either of you two know that Corrigan had a sister?”
Alex shook his head. “I don’t really spend all that much time thinking about the Brethren, Mack Attack.”
Aubrey shrugged. “I knew.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why would I? It’s not like I thought it was a big deal. Not like, say, knowing that the person you’ve been hanging around with has a secret identity as a dragon.”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again. Clearly he wasn’t going to give that up for a while yet. And he did rather have a point. It occurred to me that, as far as the Lord Alpha was concerned, I was becoming a bit of stalker girl. Fortunately, Volk re-entered at that point, saving me from muddling my way through some babble about why I should have known Corrigan’s family tree.
“Here she is,” he said, gesturing behind him.
I did my best to appear friendly, and stuck out a hand towards the Karzelek. I was shocked at just how short she really was. That might prove problematic in getting her into the mine initially.
“Hi,” I said. “I’m Mack.”
She bobbed her head. “Katya.”
Alex and Aubrey introduced themselves, then she looked back at me. “So you’re the dragon.” It wasn’t a question.
Shit. Was there anyone anywhere who didn’t know what I was? I coughed. “Not exactly.”
Aubrey threw his hands up in the air. “Even the dwarf knows what you are!”
“I’m a Karzelek, not a dwarf.” She laced her fingers primly in front of her. “So, dragon or not, I am told that you require some help.”
Alex jiggled in excitement. “Yeah! If we could just borrow your time for a couple of hours tomorrow, then we’d be so grateful.” He quickly outlined his plan to the little woman.
She shook her head. “Won’t work.”
He stopped bouncing around and stared at her. “Yes, it will.”
“Look,” she said patiently as if he were a very small child, “if there’s one thing I know, it’s mines. They’re not going to let you waltz in and tell them that you can lead them to a new vein. They don’t know you and there are serious health and safety considerations in place. It’s not a tourist attraction.”
“I spoke to the manager on the phone. When I told him we could help him with sourcing more palladium within the mine, he was thrilled.”
“Sure. But it still doesn’t mean he’ll let you inside. If he’s feeling generous, he’ll show you some diagrams and maps, and perhaps some geological surveys and ask you to point out where you’d suggest they investigate. And in about six months’ time, once they’ve exhausted their current avenues, then maybe they will.”
Alex was completely deflated. “But…”
“There are no buts. It simply won’t work. It’s not the Otherworld, it’s the human world. They do things differently.”
“Why don’t you just take some?” Volk asked curiously. “Just go there, grab some of it, then leave. They’ll have security, but nothing I imagine you wouldn’t be able to overcome.”
“We’re not stealing it,” I said, firmly.
“Mack Attack…”
“We’re not. It’s wrong.”
“It comes out of the ground. It belongs to the earth, not to some faceless corporation. You can’t steal from Mother Nature.” Alex paused. “Well, you can, but only if you’re the freaking necromancer who we’re trying to defeat anyway. Sheesh, our intentions at least are noble and heroic, even if our actions wouldn’t be.”
“Then let’s just buy it, Alex.”
He ran his hands through his hair. “There’s got to be another way.”
Katya, her head craned upwards, watching us with her eyes zipping from side to side as if she was at a tennis match, spoke up. “The dragon is right,” she said sternly. “Those miners work hard for that metal. They risk their lives for it. You can’t just steal it from them.”
I looked at Alex, raising my eyebrows as if to emphasise her words.
“However,” she continued, “there is maybe a way you could get some.”
Hope flared in Alex’s eyes and he started jiggling again. “How?”
She shrugged. “I know the area. There’s an abandoned mine shaft not too far away. The company which owns it is going to seal it over because they’ve stripped it of most of its resources. I’ve heard there is still some palladium ore left inside though. I don’t imagine it’ll be much, and I don’t really understand what you need it for, but you might be able to get some from there.”
“How would we, you know, get it out? Extract it?”
“You’d have to work that out yourselves. And you have to bear in mind that it’s not just as easy as digging it out. Palladium is found inside nickel-copper deposits. It needs to be refined in order to become the element that you need.”
I massaged my temples. “We can’t do that.”
“Actually, we can, Mack Attack.” The enthusiasm had returned to Alex’s voice. “It’s basic mage science. I can probably even do it on site at the mine. If we can just find it, I can leach out the parts that we don’t need with a basic spell.”
I looked at Katya. She shrugged. “I’ve seen it done.”
Aubrey clapped his hands together. “So what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
*
Unwilling to risk depleting his magical energy unnecessarily, we borrowed an incredibly flashy car from Volk rather than have Alex open another portal. We’d need him to set one up so we could return to London later on as it was, and at this time of night – or rather early morning – it would take us little more than an hour to reach the site of the mine-shaft anyway. Unfortunately, being sporty and flashy as it was, the car only had two seats: one for the driver and one for the passenger. Because Alex was driving, I ended up on top of Aubrey’s lap on the passenger seat, with Katya on top of me. Sandwiched between the two of them as I was, my head kept bouncing off the car’s ceiling, and I felt incredibly hot and uncomfortable. Things only got worse when we drove off the main road and onto an uneven, untarmacked side road.
“F*cking hell,” I grumbled, as Aubrey’s elbow somehow dug itself into my ribs while he changed his position and I got a mouthful of the Karzelek’s hair.
“It’s not my fault you’re so heavy,” he complained. “Maybe if you ate a little more salad and a little less junk food, then you wouldn’t weigh so much.”
“Are you suggesting that I’m fat?” I said, disbelievingly.
“Well, when I was a,” he began, before the car jolted over a pothole and all three of us ended up squashed painfully against the window.
“You were saying?” I asked, once we’d vaguely righted ourselves. “When you were a vampire…?”
“He’s a vampire?” Katya squeaked.
“Used to be. He’s not anymore,” I reassured her.
“You got something against vampires?” he demanded.
“Aubrey…”
“At least I’m not so short that the only ride I’d be allowed on at Disneyland is the merry-go-round!”
“Have you even been to Disneyland?”
“They do night shows and I like Minnie Mouse. What of it?” he asked, petulantly.
Good grief. “Alex, please tell me we are nearly there.” I couldn’t see a sodding thing out of the windscreen.
“Two more minutes, dude,” he said. “Why? Aren’t you enjoying the ride? This is a seriously cool car.”
I tried very hard not to curse. At least we did, indeed, arrive two minutes later, all three of us piling out and gasping for relief in the open air. I’d almost prefer to have travelled via a portal. Almost. I grabbed a small pick-ax that Volk had given us from the car floor, and gripped it. I had no idea why a large werewolf would have had mining equipment lying around in a bar, and I’d decided at the time that it was probably safer not to ask.
Katya pointed us towards a dark square shaped hole that seemed to be cut into the side of a massive cliff. It yawned open, almost like the gates of hell themselves. A faint smell of sulphur combined with rock dust lingered in the air.
“We should have brought a bloody canary,” I said.
“Or perhaps a torch at the very least,” Aubrey commented.
“At least we have this,” I said, swinging the small pick-ax in my hand, then passing it to Aubrey. I sparked up some green fire at my fingertips and shot out a bolt towards the entrance. The light it cast was eerie, but at least we could see where we were going.
“Okay, team,” I murmured.
We set off together. When we actually stepped into the mine itself, I felt a sudden wave of claustrophobic hysteria building up inside me. In order to calm it down, I called up a swirl of bloodfire, enjoying the familiar heat rush through my body. Aubrey gripped my arm, and Alex remained close to my other side, while Katya trotted ahead, completely unconcerned.
“You don’t think there’ll be anything bad in here, do you?” Alex whispered.
“Like what?” I had no idea why I was whispering back.
“You know, like maybe an evil cave-dwelling monster who we have to fight to the death?”
“I’m sure Katya would have mentioned if there was likely to be anything lurking around.”
“Either that or she’s leading us into a deadly trap. Like flies into a creepy spider’s web.” He stopped for a moment. “Shit. You don’t think there’ll be any giant spiders, do you?”
I tugged on his arm. “Come on. You’re the one who wanted to do things this way, remember?”
“You’re right. Yes,” he nodded. “Everything will be fine.”
We continued on silently, following Katya, who proceeded forward at an impressive rate considering the length of her little legs. Every time we rounded a hewn out corner, I used my green fire to light up the way ahead. The corridors seemed to be getting narrower, however, and the air was definitely becoming less fresh and much more oppressive. I thought of people who worked in places like this for a living. Maybe my life wasn’t so bad after all.
Katya finally stopped, waiting for us to catch up.
“It’s been too long since I’ve felt the freedom of the underground,” she said, with a happy sigh.
Each to their own. She pointed down to a small hole.
“We need to go through there.”
I traced it with my finger, letting the fire highlight where she meant. It was going to be a tight f*cking squeeze. Aubrey moaned faintly.
She got down on her hands and knees and began to crawl through. Jeez. If the Karzelek had to crawl through, then I dreaded to think what it was going to be like for the rest of us. Perhaps Aubrey had been right and I should lay off the junk food after all.
Alex nudged me. “You first.”
I swallowed and bent down, peering through. It didn’t seem as if there was any way I was possibly going to fit. Katya was already far ahead though. I stuck my head through, then hunched my shoulders together, and began to wiggle forward. I’d never thought about what it might be like to be a worm, but this must pretty much be it. Pulling my hips through was painful, and I could feel my skin scraping against the rock above and below as my t-shirt got pushed up. Inch by inch, I shoved myself forward. This was not fun.
After what seemed like an eternity, the tunnel began to widen. I breathed in relief as I could first get onto my hands and knees, and then half stand up and stoop as I continued forward. The blackness of the mine seemed to be starting to smother me, even with the green fire still flickering at my fingers. I was concentrating so hard on keeping myself calm and centred that I knocked into Katya, almost making her fall over.
“Sorry.”
She tutted, and pointed through the gloom at something. “It’s there. There really isn’t very much though. Even less than I thought.”
I stared at it. I couldn’t see anything. Alex pulled himself out of the tunnel, followed by Aubrey. Both of them were breathing heavily.
“We’ve made it,” I told them.
“Praise the Founder,” Alex sighed. “Whose idea was this again?”
I gave him a dirty look. “The palladium is there. We need to work out how to get at it.”
We all stood there in silence. Shit. Finally, Aubrey spoke up.
“Heat it.”
“Eh?”
“You’re a dragon, or so I’m told anyway. Get some dragon fire going and heat it up. It’ll expand, and crack the rock, and we get it out with this.” He swung the pick-ax up.
“Even if I was confident enough to transform into a dragon shape so I could breathe fire, it would be impossible in this tiny space,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, dude, but you’ve got your green fire, I’ve got my blue fire,” Alex interjected. “We can try both of them together. That might work.”
I pursed my lips then bobbed my head in agreement. “Let’s give it a shot.”
Katya pointed to one small spot. “The greatest concentration is there. Aim for that spot.”
I nodded, then stepped back to where Alex was. We exchanged glances and, on a count of three, simultaneously sent out our colourful streams of fire. The tiny cavern flared into life, with beams of light from the flames bouncing off the walls, which glittered in return. Sparks flew off the spot where our magic struck, making both Katya and Aubrey back away and shade their eyes from the glare.
The entire wall of rock seemed to heave and creak.
“Quick, Aubrey,” I said, “get down there and see what you can do.”
He stepped forward, swinging the little axe and striking the rock. Chunks flew off.
“Again.”
He continued, chipping away at it. He grunted. “I think I’m getting something.”
Alex took over, grasping the tool and digging it into the wall. Every so often he stepped back, and the pair of us lit the spot up again. We took turns to attack until, eventually, the cavern floor was strewn with debris.
“I think that’s about your lot,” Katya said.
She began scooping the darker oxidized chunks of metal together.
“There’s not very much,” I said, doubtfully.
“It’s only going to take one weapon to stab Endor and be done with him,” Alex responded grimly.
I nodded, thinking of Staines’ corpse lying on my kitchen table. The necromancer wouldn’t know what hit him. Alex hunkered down next to the small pile and began to mutter. The bits of metal started to glow. I wiped the sweat off my brow. It was getting f*cking hot. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to take too much effort before it began to separate. We all watched fascinated as Alex waved his hands over each segment and it split away into silvery parts. I picked one up and held it up to my face. It was kind of pretty.
Katya produced a small bag and shoved the pieces inside. I added the one I was holding then she shouldered the bag and jerked her head back at the tunnel. As much as I was dreading the squeeze back through, I couldn’t wait to get out of this place. One by one we headed back out. It seemed even a tighter fit than before this time, and the scrapes that I had garnered on my first journey through were merely aggravated by having to force my body along again. By the time I made it out of the small space, I was smarting all over.
Once Alex and Aubrey caught up, we began to wend our way back out.
“We did it, Mack Attack. No need to go begging for money or upsetting the balance of power.”
“I’d feel better if we had more of the stuff,” I said, “but you’re right. Now all we need is for the wanker to show up at Loch Ness.”
The thought of what was going to happen to Endor filled my mind and, distracted, I stumbled, kicking a small stone to the side as I did so. It gleamed in the light of my green fire. I pulled myself back upright while Aubrey moved over and picked it up.
“Wow. This is beautiful. It’s the same colour as that scarf we saw. Katya,” he called out, “what is this?”
She came trotting back and peered at what Aubrey was holding out. The little Karzelek’s face paled. I felt the tendrils of dread begin to curve up through my body and I held out my hand. Aubrey dropped it into my palm. Oh f*ck. Gingerly pinching the small smooth stone, I lifted it to my ear and heard a faint chiming sound which made my stomach drop.
“Can I have it back? It’s pretty,” said Aubrey.
I stared at him.
“What? I found it. It’s mine.”
I licked my lips. “Actually, I’m the one who found it. I kicked it.”
“But I picked it up. Finders keepers, losers weepers. Give it back,” he insisted.
I closed my fingers tightly round it and squeezed my eyes shut.
“Is that…?”
I nodded at Alex.
“Oh shit,” he said.
Oh, shit indeed.
“What? Give it back! This isn’t fair.”
“Who found it, Mack Attack?” Alex asked softly. “You or him?”
I shook my head. I didn’t know.
“What the f*ck is going on?” demanded Aubrey.
I uncurled my fingers and handed him the stone. “It’s a wichtlein’s stone.”
Katya jerked her head towards me. “You know what it is?”
I felt sick. “Yes. I’ve seen one before.”
“What happened?”
I thought of John, my old alpha, and his intestines gleaming in the moonlight of the Cornish night. “What you’d expect.”
Aubrey spoke again. “What the hell is going on? What’s a wichtlein’s stone?”
“It’s a harbinger of doom,” Alex answered. “If you find one, then it’s been left for you by a wichtlein. It usually means death and destruction.”
“At the very least, the person who found it is probably going to die,” said Katya matter-of-factly.
Aubrey’s eyes widened and he stared down at the shiny pebble. Then he threw it behind him with a huge amount of force. It skittered away into the darkness.
We looked at each other. “You or me, buddy,” I said, trying to keep my tone light.
“Maybe it’s a mistake,” Alex said, sounding panicked. “This is an old mine. It could have belonged to someone else and they just left it here. It doesn’t mean that it’s for either of you.”
“You’re right,” I said.
Everyone else made murmurs of agreement. None of them sounded very enthusiastic.
I took a deep breath. “We can’t worry about it now. We have to get back to London and get the palladium to Balud.”
I didn’t say anything else, just began to stride away. It was time to get out of this f*cking mine. The others did the same. We grimly marched on and upwards, not speaking. There wasn’t really anything to say.
Before too long, the rough corridor seemed to start lightening. When we rounded the corner, right in front of the entrance, the bright sunlight forced us all to shade our eyes and blink away. The relief I felt at finally getting out was more than tempered by the heavy knowledge of what had just transpired. I took Aubrey’s hand and squeezed it tightly, then we emerged back out into the sunlight of a brand new day.