Full Moon Howl: A Montague & Strong Detective Novel (Montague & Strong Case Files Book 2) Read online

  “We have a problem and he may be the only one who has the answer.”

  “He’s dead,” I said, and stepped back when she twisted my way suddenly. My hand reflexively moved to the hilt of Ebonsoul. Her eyes flicked down at the movement.

  “You killed him?” She slowly looked from me to Monty. “Which one of you killed him?”

  “I did,” I said, keeping my hand on Ebonsoul since she was acting more menacing than usual. “Why?”

  “He gave us no choice,” Monty said. “He turned without a full moon and attacked.”

  “Chikusho. Without a moon?” she said under her breath, looking around. “Where’s the body?”

  I pointed to the back of the office. “Conference room.” “Why? What’s wrong? I called Allen to come get the body.”

  She was already moving. “Did he scratch or bite anyone?” Her voice was full of urgency.

  We entered the conference room to the earlier stench on steroids. My nose shut down and my eyes began to water.

  “What the hell?” I gasped and stepped back until I could breathe again. Monty and Chi both entered the room.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” she said as she examined Douglas’ body.

  I shook my head. “He was pretty focused on me when he turned,” I said, showing her my shredded shirt.

  “Did he attack anyone besides you? The mage or Yama?”

  “Thank you for the concern, but no, just me and my limited-edition Balmain.”

  She turned the body over with a foot. “You are immune to vampire and Werewolf attacks. Worrying about you would be a pointless exercise.”

  “I’m touched,” I said, leaning forward to look at Douglas. “Did you know he was ill?”

  “He wasn’t just ill,” Monty interjected, rubbing his chin. “I’ve been giving this some thought. He was exhibiting symptoms of a runic infection.”

  “A what?” I squinted my eyes at him.

  Michiko nodded. “It’s worse than that, I’m afraid. Much worse.”

  “How can it be worse? We stopped him and he’s down,” I said, pointing at Douglas’ body. “It’s not like he’s going to come back, is he?”

  “Mage, we have to contain this here.” Michiko looked at Monty and then she shoved the conference table out of the way with the push of one hand. “You need to incinerate the body—now.”

  “What are you taking about? He’s not a threat,” I said as I entered the conference room, putting my sense of smell at risk.

  “If you let the coroner take this body,” she said, moving the chairs, “this infection will become an epidemic. I didn’t realize he was ill until today when I was attacked.”

  “The audience yesterday…” Monty said with a nod. “When he went to ask for help, were there other Werewolves present?”

  Michiko nodded. “Whatever it was flared today and several Werewolves attacked in a general meeting. They were all present when this Werewolf petitioned for assistance.”

  “Did they exhibit any flu-like symptoms? Mucus? Shivering?” Monty asked.

  “That’s why we initially missed it,” she said. “By the time we realized what was wrong, they had turned and attacked. Restraints were useless. Three good Werewolves—friends—had to be destroyed today.”

  “Were those three in contact with anyone else?” I asked.

  “She shook her head. “They were in deliberations all day— no outside contact. As far as we can tell, it only affects Werewolves. None of the vampires present seem to be affected.”

  “Was there a message?” Monty flexed his fingers, and the room grew warmer. “Did they say anything?”

  “Yes,” she said slowly and turned to Monty.

  I looked back and forth between the two of them. “What did they say?”

  “They all said the same thing,” she said, and stepped back as orbs of fire blossomed in Monty’s hands.

  “It was a message for me. What was it?” he said, increasing the size of the orbs until I could feel the heat from across the room. “What did they say?”

  “For you? No,” she whispered and looked at Monty again. “Right before they died, they all said one word—‘Ordaurum.’”

  I could see Monty flex his jaw at the word. “Ordaurum. Does that mean anything to you?”

  He looked down at his hands and let his hair fall in front of his face, hiding his eyes. The orbs in his palms intensified as he kept his gaze fixed downward.

  “No, it doesn’t.”

  My best friend and partner had just lied to me.

  THREE

  Monty let the orbs float from his hands. For a second, they hung lazily in the air, and Michiko narrowed her eyes as she took a defensive stance and pulled the hairpins from her bun. Her black hair cascaded behind, falling to the middle of her back.

  “Chi, what are you doing?” I was alarmed, reading her body language. “No—don’t!”

  She moved forward a step, when a growling Peaches materialized in front of her.

  Michiko froze in place as Peaches’ eyes glowed red and runes flowed across his body. She lowered the hairpins and moved back, slowly.

  Monty released the orbs and they descended on Douglas’ body, reducing it to dust in seconds. He looked up, gave us a tight smile, and moved some hair from his face.

  “You thought I was going to attack you?” he said, staring at Michiko as he shook out his hands. “If that time ever comes, vampire, you can trust I won’t be using a simple fire spell.”

  “The Werewolves just snapped,” she said, calmly replacing the hairpins in her hair. “They attacked without provocation.”

  “Monty wouldn’t attack you,” I drew close to Peaches and rubbed his head. He went from growling to a low rumble. “Right, Monty?”

  He looked at me, rolled his eyes and shook his head as he headed back to the kitchen. “I need more tea.”

  Peaches settled down and winked out of sight. I walked back to the main reception area with Michiko in tow. I could hear Monty pottering around the kitchen.

  “Where did it go?” she asked, looking around. “Where did you get that creature?”

  “He was a gift from Hades,” I said, letting out a breath. “Offspring of Cerberus.”

  “Hades? As in the god of the Underworld, Hades?”

  I nodded. “He felt we were having issues with security and wanted to give us a hand.” I worked on the front door finally getting it rehung on its hinges.

  “Why doesn’t it have three heads? Isn’t Cerberus the dog with three heads?”

  I peered into the kitchen and gave Monty the ‘See? It’s not just me’ look. He shrugged back at me.

  “There were never three heads, at least according to Hades. He just said that to embellish the myth, and probably scare people.”

  “You’re serious,” she said, looking at Monty and then me. “The god of the dead gave you some kind of hellhound creature, and you both think this is an acceptable gift?”

  “We didn’t have much of a choice. If we said no he would have destroyed him.”

  “That creature—”she started.

  “Peaches—his name is Peaches, and he’s still a puppy,” I corrected. “He doesn’t like being called ‘creature.’”

  “That creature needs to be returned or destroyed,” she said, looking at me while sitting down on the sofa.

  I stared her down. I was the only person I knew who could.

  “No,” I said, with a shake of my head. “Peaches stays until I say otherwise. Now, how do we deal with this infection?”

  She remained absolutely still for several seconds without a word. When I was sufficiently creeped-out, she gave me a smile and I stepped back. It was the smile that said ‘I can remove your heart and hold it up in front of you while you crumple to the ground, dead.’ I never liked that smile.

  A cough came from the kitchen and I looked to see Monty give me a quick nod.

  “Peaches is part of the household security you advised Simon to rectify on several occasions.
He has done exactly as you asked.”

  “Not exactly. But, you’re correct. My apologies,” she whispered, and gave me a short nod. “If your new addition can prevent my phasing into your office, then your security is vastly improved.”

  She crossed her legs, rested both hands on her knees, and looked at me.

  “Do you know what caused the infection?” I asked, sitting across from her. “I’m guessing that’s one of the questions you wanted to ask Douglas.”

  “It’s not just the infection the Council is concerned with,” she said and turned. “I also must relocate them.”

  She looked at Yama and said something in rapid Japanese. Yama bowed and went into the darkroom. Georgianna followed him in.

  “What was that?” I asked. “What did you tell him?”

  “I told them both to pack their things. They will be leaving with me,” she said as she stood slowly and straightened out her coat.

  “Leaving with you? Since when—?” I stopped when I saw Monty give me a look and a quick shake of his head.

  “They can’t remain here.” She gestured languidly with a hand. “This place is no longer safe, even with your… Peaches.”

  “Not safe? Even you couldn’t get in without bonding to Peaches.”

  “Couldn’t?” she said and narrowed her eyes. “No, Simon, I chose to remain outside your threshold and not destroy your creature.”

  “How long?” Monty said as he entered the reception area. “How long before the Council sends him?”

  “Forty-eight hours, at the most,” she said as she pulled out a phone and spoke into it. “Downstairs, ten minutes.”

  “Why is the Council sending over someone?” I asked.

  “Werewolves turned without a moon, which means a high-level mage-spell was cast,” Monty said as he watched Yama and Georgianna exit the darkroom. They both bowed and headed out the door. Monty returned the bow. “The Council thinks I’m a threat. You’re here for me.”

  “I’m here because you’re his friend.” She gestured in my direction. “This isn’t an official visit, this is a courtesy call. They expect you to turn yourself in for a full investigation—by midnight.”

  I looked at the clock. We had four hours.

  “What? I’m sure there are plenty of mages in the city,” I said as my anger rose. “They can’t assume it’s Monty and then expect him to prove his innocence.”

  “They can and they have. Mage, my suggestion to you is do as they expect.”

  “There are other mages in the city,” Monty whispered while rubbing his chin. “Some just as powerful, if not more powerful than I am. The Hellfire, for instance?”

  “You underestimate yourself. There are none of this caliber,” she said, walking to the entrance. “None who could work a spell this powerful or complex—except you.”

  “And if he doesn’t turn himself in?”

  “The Council is prepared to send Beck to assist your mage in cooperating.”

  “Who the hell is Beck?” I asked. “By ‘assist’ you mean terminate?”

  “He’s a Negomancer, a sorcerer who deals in the darkest magic. He orchestrates erasures, both magical—and physical,” she said after a pause.

  “Wait they’re going to try and erase Monty?” I stood up, my hand resting on Ebonsoul as I closed the distance to where she stood.

  She placed a hand on my cheek and let it rest there for a second.

  “Simon, if you get involved in this or try and interfere, Beck will kill you.”

  “Simon—” Monty started.

  I held up my hand and he went silent.

  “You can stop this,” I said, looking at her and placing my hand over hers. “You head the Council. You can stop this order.”

  She shook her head. “My presence here, warning you, is grounds for my termination—permanently.” Her voice was hard as she removed her hand from mine. “You want to stop this? Once you refuse to surrender tonight, find whoever cast the spell, and bring him to the Council. You have until the full moon before they unleash a purge.”

  “And if we don’t find this missing mage?”

  She looked at me and stepped past the threshold.

  “They will send Beck. You will be seen as an accessory and he will kill the both of you,” she said and then disappeared.

  FOUR

  “You’re being framed,” I said as we moved to the living quarters. “Who wants you stripped of power?”

  “Are you serious?” Monty asked as he stepped to a sidewall in our shared office. “You realize I’m over two centuries old. You don’t get to my age without making enemies. It’s a long list.”

  He placed a hand on the wall opposite our desks and a large section slid back. Inside were our rapid response bags. Two backpacks crammed with everything we needed in case of a quick exit. He pulled them out and placed them on his desk.

  I walked over to the wall behind my desk.

  “Strongbox?” I asked as I placed my hand on the wall.

  “Empty it; I don’t want to leave entropy rounds where they can be found,” he said while pulling out his phone.

  I could hear him speaking with Andrei about getting the Goat ready— our subtle purple Pontiac GTO, which Monty assures me isn’t purple but Byzantium—ready as I focused on the wall in front of me. The last time I’d opened this partition, I’d been going to face a deranged god. This situation wasn’t much better.

  The partition slid back. I pulled out the large, rune-covered strongbox that sat inside. Placing my hand on top of the box made the runes flash orange for a moment before it clicked open. Lifting the lid caused black smoke to waft up into the office and I stifled a cough.

  Runes also protected the inside of the box. I picked up the magazines full of entropy rounds for the Grim Whisper and passed most of them to Monty, keeping two for myself.

  “Do you know this ‘Beck’?” I asked as I slid a magazine into Grim Whisper. I put the spare into the pocket of my coat. “Is he, like, some uber Necromancer?”

  Monty shook his head as he adjusted his pack.

  “I know of him and none of it is good. Necromancy deals with bringing things back to life. Negomancy deals with the undoing of things. It’s one of the rarest and most obscure disciplines. Sorcerers like Beck have gone so dark that return is impossible. His purpose in the Council is to erase magical abilities among other things.”

  “Wait, are you saying this Beck has gone over to the ‘dark side’? Is he a Sith?”

  “Hilarious. You won’t feel like joking if you meet him,” he said, securing the entropy rounds. “He’s dangerous and ruthlessly efficient. The only upside is that Negomancy takes an inordinate amount of power to use. He can only cast for a short time before needing to rest.”

  “Doesn’t sound like much of an upside.”

  “It’s the only one we have. If he can be fatigued, we can stop him before he does any major damage.”

  “I should be good. It’s not like he’s going to strip me of magic—I don’t have or use any.”

  He gave me the usual ‘Did you really just say that?’ stare and sighed.

  “Kali cursed you alive. What do you think is the basis of that curse—bad intentions?”

  “Shit. The curse itself is magic. If he negates it—”

  “There goes your immunity to magic not to mention the effect it may have on you.”

  My phone rang as I returned the strongbox and closed the panel.

  “Montague and Strong—impossible is nothing. Simon speaking,” I answered in my most business-like voice.

  “Strong, you need to come see me—now. Bring Tristan.”

  I recognized the voice. It was Jimmy the Cleaver.

  “Jimmy, I’m kind of in the middle of something. Is this urgent?”

  “Only if you call setting off every rune in the place urgent.”

  “We’ll be right over,” I said and hung up.

  “What was that?” Monty asked.

  “I think Jimmy has an emergency
at the shop. We need to go over there. It may be another infection.” I turned and grabbed my pack.

  “That—I heard. I meant the way you answered the phone: ‘impossible is nothing?’”

  “I’m trying out new taglines. I have a few new ones. Did you like that one?”

  “No. It was horrendous,” he said with an eye-roll and headshake.

  We left the living quarters and entered the reception area. Monty made a gesture and secured the door in place.

  “Maybe we could start a moving company,” I said. “With your ability and my connections—”

  “Do you have everything you need?” he said, cutting me off with a glare. “We won’t be back for some time.”

  “Got it,” I hoisted the pack on my shoulders, used to traveling light. “What about Peaches?”

  As if on cue, he materialized next to me and gave me a low rumble as I scratched his head. Monty looked down at him with a brief nod.

  “Somehow I don’t think he’ll let you out of his sight for any prolonged length of time.”

  “I have an idea about what we can do with him. Let’s go see Jimmy.”

  Peaches and I stepped out into the hallway and Monty closed the door behind us. We still had a few hours to go before midnight. Neither of us wanted to be here when the time came and the Council decided to bring Monty in by force.

  He pressed his hands against the door and then both walls adjacent to the entrance. The door flared white for a split second and returned to normal.

  “What was that?”

  “That was a temporal fail-safe designed to mark and stop anyone who tries to enter.”

  “You don’t have something that can explode and take them out?”

  “Only if you want to have a conversation with Olga about how the second floor of her building is missing.”

  “On second thought, stopping and marking is good,” I said, stepping away from our front door.

  We took the stairwell and entered the lobby. Andrei stood by the door and stepped back as Peaches got closer. Outside, I could see the valet had parked the Goat in front of the building entrance.

  “Dosvidaniya,” he said as he opened the door and gave Peaches a wide berth. “Have a good evening.”