Storm Blood: A Montague & Strong Detective Novel (Montague & Strong Case Files Book 15) Read online

  STORM BLOOD

  Montague And Strong Detective Agency Novel

  ORLANDO A. SANCHEZ

  CONTENTS

  About the Story

  Quotation

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  TWENTY-ONE

  TWENTY-TWO

  TWENTY-THREE

  TWENTY-FOUR

  TWENTY-FIVE

  TWENTY-SIX

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  TWENTY-NINE

  THIRTY

  THIRTY-ONE

  THIRTY-TWO

  THIRTY-THREE

  THIRTY-FOUR

  THIRTY-FIVE

  THIRTY-SIX

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  Author Notes

  Special Mentions

  About the Author

  Bitten Peaches Publishing

  ART SHREDDERS

  Acknowledgements

  Contact Me

  Thank you

  ABOUT THE STORY

  How do you destroy a god? Power…overwhelming power.

  With Mahnes defeated, Monty & Simon must now face the entity behind the attacks.

  They must face one of the old gods…Chaos.

  There’s only one slight problem—they aren’t strong enough.

  When every strategy devised requires more power, Monty realizes he must make a potentially lethal choice: accelerate the shift to Archmage.

  In order to do this, Monty and Simon must travel undetected to London, convincing York, an old and powerful mage who’s currently missing, to help them. To find York, they will have to visit a reclusive member of the Ten—a witch who can prepare Monty for the cast they need. A witch with a reputation for obliterating friends and foes alike.

  If successful, Monty will have access to enough power to imprison an ancient god. They’re risking it all, but if they don’t, Chaos will obliterate everything…starting with the Montague & Strong Detective Agency.

  QUOTATION

  Nothing vast enters the lives of mortals without a curse.

  —Sophocles

  ONE

  “You want us to do what?” I asked, confused. “Seriously?”

  “London is shut down to all teleportation and runic travel,” Monty said after taking a sip from his cup. “May have something to do with our last visit there.”

  “You think?” I said, staring at him. “You practically leveled the city. I’m sure they’re still touchy about the extensive renovations to London Tower.”

  “You mean the Tower of London?”

  “That castle you blew apart where they keep the crown jewels,” I said. “The real old one near the river.”

  “That was the Krampus,” Monty said. “If I recall, aside from the bridges, there were major repairs to the Tate Museum in the wake of your creature ‘cutting loose.’”

  Peaches rumbled from under the table.

  “Peaches doesn’t ‘cut loose.’”

  “What do you call the wholesale destruction he unleashed?”

  “I seem to recall they wanted to kill him,” I said, glancing under the table where my hellhound sprawled. “I call it self-defense.”

  “Fair point,” Monty said with a nod. “Still, he could have just plane-walked away, not toppling the building upon his exit.”

  “Okay, fine,” I admitted. “That was all Peaches, but you have to admit the Tate deserves to be blasted from existence. A crater would look better than that monstrosity of a building. Don’t even get me started on the supposed art they display.”

  “Be that as it may,” Monty said, glancing to his left, “the Penumbra Consortium did not appreciate the destruction of the building while they were still inside it. Finally, my uncle is here.”

  I looked at the door at the end of the corridor. Its frame gave off a green glow before opening. to reveal Dex, who walked into the hallway which led to the kitchen where we were sitting.

  Peaches rumbled again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  My hellhound was now suddenly a Zen master of witty comebacks. I really needed to get him out more.

  “Morning, lads,” Dex said as he entered the kitchen. “I’ve made some calls.”

  Dex was dressed—which was a nice change—in a pastel-green Armani dress shirt, and a pair of dark 501s that looked like they were about a hundred years old. On his feet he wore a pair of dark brown Thursday Vanguard boots. His long, gray hair was pulled back in a braided ponytail, rounding out the bohemian mage look.

  “Nice jeans,” I said with a chuckle. “They look about a century old. Is this the vintage Dex look?”

  Dex looked down and grinned at me.

  “Like them? 1860 to be precise,” Dex answered. “Got them from Levi, personally. Probably worth a small fortune today. This is Mo’s effort to make me look respectable.”

  “What’s that on your neck?” I asked. “That looks like a…”

  “Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to, boy,” Dex said with a smile. “Unless you want the details?”

  “Um, no, hard pass, thanks,” I said quickly. “Some things are better in my imagination.”

  “I used to think the same thing,” Dex answered. “Are you sure?”

  “He’s sure,” Monty said, saving me. “Who did you call?”

  “I have news,” Dex said, his expression becoming serious. “But first, the dark elixir of the gods.”

  I held my breath in anticipation as Dex gestured. On the counter in front of us materialized two steaming mugs of the best Deathwish javambrosia on the planet. I grabbed my mug and brought it close to my face, inhaling the aroma.

  “This smell should be illegal,” I said before taking my first sip of the day and groaning with caffeinated delight. “If you’re going to teach me anything, you need to teach me how to do this.”

  “Nothing like a proper cup to start the day,” Dex said with a groan of is own after taking a long pull.

  Monty rolled his eyes at us and sipped his tea.

  “You were saying you had news,” Monty repeated. “Who did you contact?”

  “Yes, I have news,” Dex said. “Not all of it is bad. Well, most of it is bad, but there is some that isn’t entirely bad.”

  “Why does that sound like it’s all bad?” I said. “Who did you call?”

  “Some of my contacts in London,” Dex said, materializing an enormous sausage the size of my arm and sliding it under the table to my ever-voracious vacuum of a hellhound. “That’s a good boy.”

  “If you keep feeding him like that, he won’t be able to move,” I said, peeking under the table. “What did your contacts say?”


  “Who exactly, Uncle Dex?” Monty pressed. “Which contacts?”

  I wondered why Monty was so interested in knowing who, exactly.

  “Does it matter?” I asked. “What’s the news?”

  “It matters, especially with a mage of my uncle’s caliber and reputation,” Monty replied. “I only know a few individuals who would risk providing him information.” Monty turned to Dex. “Who was it?”

  “Fine,” Dex said, throwing a hand into the air. “It was Nana. Happy?”

  “Yes, actually,” Monty said with a smile. “It’s good to know she’s actually among the living again.”

  “Wait, what? Nana?” I said, confused. “How did you speak to Nana? I thought she was…?”

  “Dead?” Dex said. “I’ll believe that when I personally confirm the actual corpse.”

  “Is she in hiding?” Monty asked.

  “Aye,” Dex said with a nod. “The Penumbra Consortium is still irked over your last visit there. She’s being held partially responsible for the destruction.”

  “That’s foolish,” Monty said after another sip. “Why would they risk angering her?”

  “Because they’re bureaucrats,” Dex said. “London, as you know by now, is locked down, but I managed a workaround to get you in. Here you go.”

  Dex reached into his shirt pocket and placed an envelope on the counter in front of me.

  “What’s this?” I asked. “Is it some secret teleportation rune that can get us in?”

  “Two tickets to British Airways Flight 1220, departs from JFK at 10 PM tonight,” Dex said. “Better for you to enter under the cover of darkness.”

  “Two tickets…? You’re joking, right?”

  “Then there’s the matter of the pup,” Dex continued. “I’ll have to take him over myself. Smaller signature should make it easier. You two would be impossible without setting off failsafes all over the point of entry.”

  “You’re serious?” I said. “I thought Monty was having a rare moment of hilarity when he told me your plan.”

  “I never have moments of hilarity,” Monty said. “This is the best, safest, and only way to get over there without being detected.”

  “But Dex is a teleportation master,” I said, turning to Dex. “Aren’t you?”

  “Teleportation master is a little much, but I’m good,” Dex said. “If I tell you this is the best and only way, trust me, this is the best and only way.”

  “What about Peaches?”

  “We’ll pop over to Wales, which isn’t locked down, and make our way to London by conventional means,” Dex said. “With you in the air and my approach from Wales it’ll be like burning the midnight oil at both ends. They’ll be completely confused.”

  “Sort of how I am right now?”

  “Exactly,” Dex said with a nod. “This should work. I’ll make sure to mask you two before you leave tonight. As long as my nephew doesn’t cast on the plane, and you don’t unleash one of your missiles, like you did last time, everything should go as planned.”

  “Like I did last time?”

  “That’s what I said, boy,” Dex said. “Something the matter with your hearing?”

  “I only created that orb because you instructed me to,” I said.

  “True,” Dex said with an evil smile, “but you were the one who created it, weren’t you?”

  I opened my mouth and shut it again.

  Dex laughed and clapped me on the shoulder.

  “I can’t believe you,” I said, shaking my head. “I was set up.”

  “Sure you were,” Dex said, waving my words away. “Now, a few things. First, Nephew, you will have to meet with Nana at some point. I told her it was a bad idea, but she insists and you know your Nana.”

  “I expected as much.”

  “Next is finding York,” Dex said. “He is currently in hiding.”

  “In hiding?” I asked. “How are we going to find him if he is in hiding? How do we even know he is in London?”

  “He can’t leave London,” Dex said. “As for finding him, I have that arranged for when you land. Leave that to me.”

  “Why does that sound like a disaster in the making?”

  “Ach, boy, have some faith,” Dex said. “Everything will be fine.”

  TWO

  “This sounds like a perfectly horrible idea,” I said when Dex left. “Do you think we’ll find this Peppermint Pattie mage?”

  “Excuse me?” Monty said, glancing my way. “The peppermint what?”

  “Peppermint Pattie? You know, York Peppermint Patties?”

  “Is this Patty an actual person or an imaginary friend?”

  “It’s a delicious mint-flavored dark-chocolate slice of goodness,” I said. “You’ve never had a Peppermint Pattie?”

  Monty pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “No, and I don’t intend to,” he said. “I’ve been doing some research on this York person my uncle is having us visit. It doesn’t look good.”

  “Doesn’t look good as in he’s dangerous, or doesn’t look good as in he’s going to be impossible to find?”

  “Not good as in he’s going to be impossible to find, and his mental state is uncertain, which makes him dangerous.”

  “You’re going to need to be a bit clearer here,” I said warily. “What do you mean, his mental state is uncertain?”

  “According to my investigations, he’s quite mad and possesses phenomenal cosmic power,” Monty said. “That makes him dangerous.”

  “Why would your uncle have us see him then?”

  “The lost rune I used against Mahnes.”

  “About that,” I began after taking another sip from my mug. “You never did mention where you discovered that rune. I mean, if it’s a lost rune, how did you find it?”

  Monty’s expression darkened, and I knew I had touched upon a topic he’d rather not discuss.

  “During my recent stay at Haven, I managed—”

  “You managed to sneak past Pirn and his mage security to go find a lost rune?” I asked. “Where exactly was this rune lost?”

  “During my recent stay at Haven I managed to discover the location of this lost rune,” Monty said, avoiding the question. “Then I merely went there and recovered it.”

  “Where, exactly, is there?” I asked. “Why did Dex seem upset you knew it?”

  “The actual location would be nearly impossible to describe. I’d have to physically take you there. Suffice it to say it’s not on this plane. My uncle was upset because it’s one of the blood runes.”

  “A lost blood rune? Why does that sound like the worst possible rune?”

  “Also one of the most powerful,” Monty added, his voice solemn. “It was the only thing that let us face off against a Chaos-controlled Mahnes.”

  “Why was Dex upset?”

  “Blood runes are a shortcut to power,” Monty said. “They use life force by utilizing blood to impart significant power to the caster.”

  “What’s the cost? There’s always a cost.”

  Monty nodded.

  “They use life force,” Monty said. “Repeated use of blood runes becomes addictive and deadly in a short time.”

  “The runes you have been using in the past, were those…?”

  “No, those were runes powered by blood magic, but they were not blood runes,” Monty assured me. “The lost runes were deliberately hidden to prevent power hungry mages and magic users from accessing these shortcuts.”

  “The same shortcut you used to fight Mahnes,” I said. “You’re saying the end justifies the means?”

  “Absolutely not,” Monty said. “It’s the reason we’re taking this trip to begin with. Blood runes are not a solution. The lost rune was a temporary stopgap at best.”

  “But you still used it,” I pushed, concerned. “You plan on going there again?”

  “Would you?” Monty asked, staring at me. “If you had access to god-stopping power, would you use it?”

  “No,” I said after a br
ief pause. “I had the offer and turned it down. There’s always another way. Hopefully one that doesn’t require sacrificing my, or anyone else’s, life.”

  “That’s what this trip is for,” Monty said. “We’re going to find another way to face Chaos.”

  “Which requires meeting an insane mage almost as powerful as Dex?”

  “Whom I strongly suggest you refrain from calling Peppermint Patty, or any other kind of patty, no matter how tempting.”

  “Got it,” I said, making a mental note not to call the insane mage a Peppermint Pattie no matter how tempting it was. “How are we going to find him?”

  “Knowing my uncle, he’ll reach out to the Ten,” Monty said. “They have an extensive global network with the added benefit that they actually like him.”

  “Are you saying there are people out there who don’t like Dex? How can that be? What’s not to like about a powerful mage wielding that nasty axe-mace of his?”

  “Indeed, it boggles the imagination.”

  “I need to go finish packing,” I said, getting up. “Who in the Ten is Dex planning on contacting? Fordey?”

  “No. This is London,” Monty said. “Chances are he will contact Josephine, which is in itself almost as dangerous as dealing with the mad mage.”

  “This Josephine is a mage?” I asked. “Is she as scary, I mean as formidable, as TK?”

  “Josephine isn’t a mage, but she is a magic user,” Monty said after finishing his tea. “She is a member of the Ten; that should explain everything.”

  “Sorceress?” I asked. I could sense he was being evasive about answering me. “What’s the big deal? It’s not like she can hear us. Wait—can she?”

  “Josephine wields an ancient, primal form of magic that is barely controlled and devastating when unleashed,” he said. “There’s a reason she lives apart from the other Ten, and most people for that matter. Even my uncle gives her a wide berth, and he fears very little.”

  “He fears her?”

  “He holds a healthy respect for the power of the Ten,” Monty said. “But I think on some level he has a small amount of fear for the power she wields.”

  “She’s stronger than Dex?”

  “Unlikely,” Monty said. “But you’re comparing apples to oranges. Dex is a mage.”