The Night Beat, From the Necropolis Enforcement Files (48 page)

“The little statue? Yeah, it gave me the creeps every time I looked at it.”

“It should. It’s a representation of Adlet. I think it’s
the
representation of Adlet.”

“What is it with the Prince and minion names beginning with ‘A’? Couldn’t the supreme evil being get attached to any other letters?”

Ralph sighed. I got the impression our new relationship was going to involve a lot of sighing on his part. “Did you take any classes on undead history? Any at all?”

“I took the fun ones. And the ones that dealt with killing off minions. The Count said my scores were so good that I didn’t have to take any courses I didn’t want to in order to get onto Enforcement.”

“Must be nice to be everyone’s favorite.”

“It doesn’t suck. But that statue thing does. Who’s Adlet?”

“Every species, living or undead, has its originators, and the good and bad sides always exist.”

“Right. That’s in the orientation class, Ralph. Everyone takes that one.”

“But I have no proof you ever paid attention. Adlet was the eldest son of the first werewolves. He turned to the Prince before he was ten, but he married and mated before anyone realized it. Supposedly some of Adlet’s blood runs in the veins of every werewolf. Which is technically true, since we all have the blood of the originals in us, and their blood created Adlet.”

“I saw that statue. We don’t look a thing like that.” It looked like an inverted creature with a lot of its insides on the outside, loaded with claws and fangs. On my worst fur day, I didn’t look like that.

“We don’t, but the werewolves in Hell do. You just haven’t seen too many.”

“Have you?”

“A few. Our kind doesn’t seem to survive well in the Depths. No idea why.”

“Let’s hope whatever the reason for that is, that it affects Jack.”

Ralph jerked. “He was trying to mate with you.” He was back to angry growling.

“I call that rape, Ralph. You know, me saying ‘no’ and him trying anyway? What you saved me from? I wasn’t mating, I was trying to escape.”

“I know. But the position he had you in, what he was saying, you were both in wolf form -- he must have been about to start when I showed up.” Ralph sounded angrier than I’d ever heard. “He’d have raped and impregnated you. That’s what they were waiting for, what they still want.” His voice was shaking. I risked a fast look. His whole body was shaking -- from rage, I was pretty sure, at least based on his expression.

I reached out and stroked his head. “It’s okay. You saved me, he didn’t get what they wanted. And he never will.”

“I’ll dust before I let him touch you again.”

My throat was tight. “I know. But…Ralph?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t want you to dust.” I swallowed. “I don’t want you to leave me. Every werewolf I’ve ever cared about has…dusted.” I managed to keep the tears from falling. “Because of me.”

“No. Because of the Prince. Never let someone give you that guilt, Vic, not even me. Especially not me. I swore over two hundred years ago that I’d never let the Prince’s side take you from us, and I meant it.”

I wanted to stop the car and cuddle more than anything else. But we had more than one big SUV following us, we’d given Monty what I hoped was enough time, and we were too near to the Estates to try to confuse our followers any more.

Instead, I focused back on the job. “What did you mean by the statue being the representation of Adlet, heavy emphasis on ‘the’?”

“You think that ring of fire’s real Hellfire this time?” Ralph asked, a little nervously.

“No idea. Into living dangerously right now.”

“I’m not big on going out in a blaze of glory, just for the record. Job description aside, I’m sort of hoping for the vast ancient age, surrounded by sobbing loved ones exit.”

“Noted. Look at this option as wildly romantic and just go with it.” We plowed through, no problems. Nice to know the illusion was still going on. Probably more than one illusion, I reminded myself.

“I don’t find death romantic. Again for the record.”

“Again, it’s noted. My question?”

He sighed. Yeah, I was going to need to get used to hearing that. “Adlet was defeated centuries ago by Black Wolf and some of our more powerful witches and warlocks. Per the legends and Black Wolf himself, he and the others bound Adlet’s spirit and turned it into a totem. It was lost in one of the big battles from centuries ago, before you were born, let alone undied.”

“Well, someone found it.” Interestingly, the SUVs weren’t following us. It looked more like they were creating a road block. To keep what beings out was the question. But not the question of the moment.

“I’d like to know who.”

“Tomio’s the one who pawned it over to Cotton, for whatever that’s worth. I’d like to know why.”

“Oh, I know why.” Again, Ralph was all matter-of-fact. I wondered if what he really wanted to do was lecture at the University and he was just making do by lecturing to me. Probably. My taste in men ran to the intellectual side of the house.

“Want to share?”

“You don’t want to share your plan, I don’t want to share the why. Equality.”

“Let’s try it this way. Until such time as someone higher up the chain of command shares with me that you rank higher, this is your impatient superior officer asking, Lieutenant Rogers.”

“It’s low to pull rank.”

“It’s also effective.”

“Fine. The why is to destroy us, all werewolves, permanently. And this totem’s the most effective way to do it.”

Chapter 66

“Huh.” I didn’t know what else to say. But memory waved a paw. “You know, Cotton had all these things appraised. By Benny the Fence.”

“Who’s nowhere around here,” Ralph mentioned.

Another memory reared its head. “Why was Bill Bennett, our dog-loving realtor, the only human not affected by whatever spell Hitler and the Three A’s had cast over all the Estates?”

Ralph was quiet while I drove through the neighborhood. No one was out and about. It was night, but no lights were on.

“He didn’t smell undead,” Ralph said finally.

“Benny the Fence isn’t an undead. He’s a human who can see into the realms and who’s managed to stay sane.”

“Wouldn’t he have looked and smelled like Benny the Fence to us? If that’s what you’re insinuating, I mean.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Nero’s got a warlock pal. Who’s to say Benny doesn’t have a lot of them?”

There was one house with lights on. I pulled into the driveway and honked the horn. This was an instinct move and I didn’t argue with it.

“What are you doing?”

“Either asking one of the bad guys to take a drive with us or saving the only sort of good guy still here.”

Bill Bennett came out of his house cautiously. I’d known in my gut it was his but it was always nice to be right. “Yes?”

I rolled the window down a crack. “Hey, we met earlier, Sunday morning. I was in a better car. You petted my dog.”

“Oh, the lady with the Russian wolfhound. Right.” He didn’t get closer.

No time like the present to go for broke. “Benny, you want out of this mess, or at least a ride with the beings likely to protect you?”

He jerked and looked around, but not at me. He stared at the car. “You a cop?”

“Detective Wolfe, Prosaic City P.D. Night Beat.” I paused. “And, to reassure, Agent Wolfe, Major, Necropolis Enforcement.”

He ran for the car and I just managed to unlock the door before he flung it open and himself into the backset. “By all the Gods and Monsters, get us out of here!”

“Benny, welcome to the party, so to speak. Want to fill us in on what’s going on?”

“Yeah. But who’s the dog?”

“Wolf,” Ralph snapped. “I’m a wolf. A werewolf. You work with us all the time and you can’t recognize a werewolf?”

“This is Ralph, he’s with Enforcement, too. Now, happy intros done, what’s going on, from your perspective?” I pulled out and considered. We had the guy who could actually tell us what these things were. Did I want to try to slide to the University, or did I want to go with the more exciting choice?

“Something big. I don’t know what.”

“Why were you jogging on Sunday when everyone else was mind-controlled to stay at home?”

“I have a spell blocker, pretty powerful one. Good friend cast it on me. I didn’t even realize there was something going on until I got back and saw what had happened to the Little Church.”

“Is your good friend’s name Hitler?”

“No!” Benny sounded shocked and outraged. “I may be a fence, but I don’t consort with the major minions! Sure, I have to take merchandise from lesser minions, but they’re just regular folks trying to make a living.”

“Nice cover you have,” Ralph snapped.

“I’m a realtor by day, fence by night. If you two are looking for a cozy love nest, I can fix you up, special deal for my friends in Necropolis Enforcement.”

“Uh huh, I’m sure.”

“No, really. You drove past it on the way up to my place. It’s on the market, cheap.”

Ralph and I exchanged a look, I turned the car around, and drove to Nero’s place. “This it?”

“Yeah.”

“No ‘for sale’ sign.”

“This is the Estates. We don’t do ‘for sale’ signs. That’s what realtors are for.”

“Who’s living in it right now?”

Benny sighed. “Nero. I know, I know, he’s bad news. But houses without tenants don’t sell. Even if said tenants decorate hideously.”

“What about Ishtrallum?”

“Oh, he doesn’t know. His house is higher up on the hill. Besides, he’s not home a lot. His business keeps him busy twenty-four-seven sometimes. And he’d be unhappy if he knew I’d let Nero stay in the house. You know how it is, the boss doesn’t like the employee to look like he’s doing as well or better.”

“Currently I like Ishtrallum a lot more than Nero.”

Benny snorted. “Who doesn’t? But Nero had the money and all beings need shelter and the chance to earn a living.”

“Nice,” Ralph said with a growl. “But that doesn’t tell us who cast that spell on you.”

“Or why you faked us out the other day.”

“I didn’t. I don’t spend my time looking at the Enforcement duty rosters. You were a hot babe with a great-looking dog and an expensive car. Pardon me for giving it a shot on the personal and professional level.”

“I knew you were petting me to butter her up,” Ralph muttered.

“Actually, no. I really love dogs.” I looked at him in the rearview mirror. He shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a normal guy with abnormal vision. It’s a tough life sometimes, but it’s never boring. Terrifying, yes, but not boring.”

I sniffed. No lying. Fear, but he was right to be afraid, and I didn’t pick up that the fear was directed towards us. One last question. “Why don’t I recognize you? And why didn’t you recognize me? I’ve been in your place before, the fence side of your house, I mean.”

Benny leaned forward and examined me. “Years ago, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Well, for me, I also have a spell that alters how I look when I’m fencing. It keeps me safer that way, and also means no human clientele will realize I’m also their realtor. For your part, it was at least a decade ago and you weren’t the officer in charge. This Sunday you weren’t in a place I’d ever associate with Enforcement, and you weren’t talking about police business.”

It made sense. I looked at Ralph out of the corner of my eye. “What do you think?”

Ralph sighed. “He’s telling the truth.”

“Of course I am!”

“Benny, that’s a rarity for us right now. But, since you seem to be on the side of right, we have some things in the bag on the front seat that Cotton Mather said you appraised.”

“Probably. I’m considered the top appraiser on at least three planes of existence.”

“Super duper. Take a look-see and tell us what, exactly and in specific detail, we’re carrying.”

We were still in front of Nero’s house. Well, the house Nero was claiming was his. I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel.

“Vic, why are we still here, burning time and gas, but not road?”

“I’m not sure where to go now.”

“I thought you wanted to get to the University.”