Page 3 of Blood Bearon
The magic duel ended as the attacker gave up, one final blast of magic exploding against the outside of the stone wall, incinerating trees and driving Khove to one knee as he shielded himself against the heat.
“What the fuck was that?” he snapped, more to himself than anyone.
“That,” the Queen said, stepping up next to him as she joined her House on the field. “Was a message.”
Khove respected his Queen and her willingness to not be held back, to fight alongside her men, but he instinctively moved to put himself between her and the wall. Just in case. It wasn’t safe here yet.
“What was it saying?” he asked, though he had an inkling.
“It was Korred,” she said, naming the infamous traitor to House Ursa that had been uncovered several weeks earlier during a doomed plot to take control of the House.
“And he’s telling us he’s back.”
2
“Tell me again why the fire department can’t handle this?” she asked, holding the mic with one hand, steering wheel with the other.
“Because, Detective Corningstone, we need to ensure the scene is safe first. The department is aware and a unit is ready to head out there once you secure the scene.”
“Thank you, Dispatch,” she said monotone as Sherry quoted the rules to her. Rules she knew well on her own.
“Anytime, honey. How’s the roads out there?”
“Fine. Why, are they normally bad?”
Rachel hadn’t ventured outside of Plymouth Falls much since she’d moved there, but she couldn’t see why they would be bad. There hadn’t been snow in a week, so everything was well-plowed by now.
“The wind really picks up out there, dear, it can blow snow across the roads and make them ugly without warning.”
“Well, doesn’t appear to have done any of that, Dispatch,” she said, holding in her sigh until she released the talk button on the side of the mic.
“Glad to hear it, darling,” Sherry the Dispatcher said with that friendly manner of addressing anyone that was so prevalent in the country, even within the Sheriff’s department. “Now just let us know what the source of that smoke is, and we’ll get you back here for some coffee and—”
“Don’t say donuts,” she laughed. “You know I don’t eat those things.”
“I see you every morning in them pants of yours, Detective. I know you don’t eat them.”
Rachel smiled at the backhanded compliment. Coming from Sherry, she didn’t mind. After all, she worked hard to keep herself fit and athletic for the job. It certainly didn’t happen because of genetics. Her job was important, and people relied on her to protect them. The stronger she was, the less chance the bad guy got away.
The snow-covered landscape flowed by endlessly as she made her way out into the country. Every now and then, her eyes flicked up from the road to the sky to the north-west. The pillar of smoke was visible for miles around, and more than a few of the country residents had called it in, resulting in the Sheriff sending Rachel out to check on it.
Life was dull in Plymouth Falls in the winter, to the point where their only true detective was sent out to investigate smoke.
“What a wild life I lead,” she said to herself. Although she’d transferred to the PFPD for a change of pace, this was still a bit less than she’d expected.
Still, itisbeautiful out here, even in the dead of winter. Can’t deny that.
Another twenty minutes of driving, and she still wasn’t any closer to the source of the smoke.
“Dispatch, are you sure I’m going the right way?” she asked, glancing down at the GPS monitor in her car. By now, she was nearly forty minutes outside of town. There was quite literally nothing around her. Even the fact that the road was paved and plowed was surprising. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d passed a driveway. Or another road.
“Almost there,” Sherry’s voice came back a moment later. “These folks out there, they really like their privacy. Be respectful of that.”
“No kidding.” Then into the mic, “Roger that, Dispatch. Thanks. I see it now.”
Her car came around a bend, and up ahead she could see the source of the smoke.
“What’s it look like, Detective?”
