The Study of Fire (The Study Chronicles: Valek’s Adventures #3)

Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

“H e’s gonna find me!” the woman screamed. “He’s gonna kill me!”

No longer keeping to the shadows, Valek ran toward the shrill voice. He raced down the empty streets, hoping to beat the Castletown patrollers to the woman.

“Gotta run! Gotta hide! He’s close!”

Half a block away, a flash of white disappeared around a corner. Valek increased his pace. When he rounded the bend, he spotted the woman. Her feet were bare, her long hair flew behind her like a horse’s tail, and she clutched the bottom of her nightgown to keep from tripping over it.

“Wake up, wake up!” she screeched. “Or you’re gonna die!”

He caught up to her. “It’s okay,” he said. “You’re safe.”

She slowed and turned to him. Her wide eyes resembled a frightened animal, and tears streaked her face. When she met his gaze, she shrieked, “It’s you! Don’t kill me!” She kicked him before taking off.

Good thing he’d moved instinctively, otherwise she’d have hit his groin instead of his thigh. Valek sprinted after her. This time he didn’t bother trying to soothe her. Tackling her, Valek twisted so he hit the ground hard on his back, skidding on the cobblestones while she landed on top of him.

She thrashed in his arms, but he held tight. Magic clung to the woman. He cursed. Flipping over and curling around her, he hoped to block the source of the power. After a few more attempts to elbow him, she went limp. Valek waited in case she was playing dead.

“What happened? Where am I?” she asked in a small, scared voice.

Valek sat up. He touched her shoulder. The magic was gone. He said, “Carrot Street, I think.”

“Do you need assistance?” a masculine voice asked.

A patroller holding a baton stood a few feet away. Another officer ran toward them. She had also pulled her baton. Valek wondered if that was how they subdued the victims.

When she reached them, she asked, “Another one?”

Valek helped the woman to her feet. “No. She had a nightmare that seemed so real, she ran from her house screaming. As you can see, she’s awake and not raving. I’ll escort her back home.”

The woman stared at him in shock, but thankfully didn’t say anything. The patrollers weren’t happy, but they didn’t stop him. Valek suspected they would follow as he led her down the street.

“Where do you live?” he asked.

“Twenty-five Cucumber Court.”

“What’s your name?”

“Bea. Is that what really happened to me?”

“What do you remember?”

“I…” She shivered and wrapped her arms around her chest.

Valek took his uniform shirt off and draped it over her shoulders.

Taking a deep breath, Bea said, “It had to be a nightmare. Except, I couldn’t wake from it. And you were there.”

“I chased you.”

“No. Before that.”

Odd. “Me specifically? Or a patrol officer in general?”

“You, specifically. Not dressed like a patroller either. Dressed in all black.” She stepped away from him. “You were coming to kill me.”

He stilled as some of the pieces clicked into place. “Do you know who I am?”

Bea shook her head. “I’ve never seen you before tonight.”

Not a surprise. Valek tried to keep a low profile among the general population. But a magician afraid of being caught in Ixia would be terrified of Valek.

“You had a name in the dream.” Bea jerked with recognition and backed away from him. “Please don’t kill me.”

“I’ve no intention of harming you. The nightmare you experienced wasn’t your own.”

“But that’s impos— I don’t have magic! Don’t kill me!” She held her hands up in a pleading gesture.

Normally, Valek didn’t mind his reputation, but there were times when it was bloody inconvenient. “I’m not going to kill you. You are the victim, not the perpetrator.”

“Oh.” Bea’s body quivered as if she was ready to bolt.

Conscious that they probably had an audience, Valek said in his most soothing tone, “You’re freezing. Let’s get you home. I’ll explain on the way.”

She hesitated for a few heartbeats, then keeping her distance from him, she resumed walking.

“My theory is that there is a magician in Castletown. They are naturally afraid of me catching and executing them. At night, they have nightmares of me hunting them and, because they’re asleep, they don’t have control of their magic. They must have projected their nightmare onto you.”

Bea pulled his shirt tighter around her shoulders. “Do you think this magician is the one causing all the problems?”

“At this point, I’m not sure. That’s why I’m investigating.” He stopped and turned to her. “And I need you to promise not to say anything to anyone about me being here. Or about your nightmare.”

“What if it happens again?”

“None of the other victims were targeted twice.” Probably because the magician moved locations to avoid the extra patrols, which was why Valek wanted to keep this incident a secret so as to not spook the person into relocating again. Bea might have another nightmare, but he didn’t want her to have trouble sleeping. Besides, Valek planned to be nearby. “Do you promise?”

“Will you let me know when they are caught?”

“I will.”

“Then I promise.”

When they reached her house, she handed him his shirt. “Thank you for waking me up.”

“You’re welcome.” He waited until she closed the door. Then he disappeared into a shadow and watched the street. The two patrollers had hung back, but now they approached Bea’s house and glanced around. Finding nothing, they left.

Valek scanned the nearby buildings. Bea’s place was in a small cul-de-sac. Two houses bookended hers, and behind them was a tight row of residences. No light shone from any of the windows facing him.

His thoughts whirled as he considered his new theory. He hadn’t been entirely truthful with Bea. Magicians who had control of their magic didn’t lose that control while they were asleep. The ones that did were adolescents whose powers had just awakened. And now Valek needed to track down the teenager before they could do any more harm.

Once found, he’d have to decide what to do with them. A heavy weight sank in his chest. If the person was close to flaming out, he’d have no choice but to end their life. The disruption to the blanket of magic power that surrounded the world would be disastrous. While the Commander would probably give him another medal if he helped ruin the source of the magicians’ magic, Valek couldn’t do that to Yelena and those who used their powers to help others. Since being with Yelena, he’d dreaded the thought of killing another magician. However, if they were abusing their power to harm, like Alea Daviian and Mogkan, he had no problem dispatching them.

Valek looped around the neighborhood, seeking magic. Since he was immune, the magic didn’t affect him, but he’d feel a sticky sensation on his skin when it was in use nearby. The main streets remained quiet and there were no signs anyone was awake at this late hour. All the windows were black. When he entered the alley behind Bea’s house, he paused to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness. The moon was waning toward new and not as bright as previous nights. Plus, the residences to each side blocked most of the moonlight.

He moved carefully down the narrow alley. Having used them often in his line of work, Valek appreciated their existence. Unfortunately, so did others. While this neighborhood appeared to be safe, he assumed danger lurked in every shadow.

Halfway through the alley, Valek spotted a thin yellow glow coming from a second story window. Someone was awake. The magician or a person unable to sleep? Only one way to find out. Valek climbed up the wall of the house. When he reached the window, he peeked in through the small gap.

A young girl, perhaps fifteen years old, paced the length of her bedroom. Her eyes were puffy and red, and she clutched a handkerchief in one hand and a stuffed dog in another. Stopping suddenly, she perched on the edge of the bed. She pressed the dog to her chest, closed her eyes, and took a few deep breaths.

Magic brushed his face and retreated. He waited for a cry of alarm or for her to jump up and extinguish the lantern, but nothing happened. Another pulse touched him, and then a third. Confused at first, Valek realized she must be practicing how to control her magic. While he could sense her power, he couldn’t determine what she was trying to do. However, he suspected she had the ability to mentally communicate with another person, which was why poor Bea and the others experienced the new magician’s nightmares.

Valek climbed down to the alley. The number forty-three was on the back door. Circling around to the front, he noted the street’s name was Peach Lane, which meant the alley was called Peach Alley by default. He patrolled the streets in case the magician returned to bed and accidentally targeted another victim.

Before he could plan how to solve the problem, Valek needed more information. If the magician had been moving from house to house to avoid detection, he needed to know who organized the effort.

At dawn, he returned to the safe house. Inrick and Hildred sat at the table eating breakfast. Valek joined them.

“Another boring night?” Inrick asked as he set a cup of tea in front of Valek.

“No. I rescued a damsel-in-distress.” He explained about the encounter with Bea, and how he found the person responsible for the incidents.

“Your persistence paid off. Well done,” Hildred said.

“Did you…er…take care of her?” Inrick asked.

“Not yet. We need to discover who else is involved. Inrick, I want you to watch the house today and see who comes and goes. I’ll keep an eye on it at night in case she loses control again.”

“There are records of all the home and business owners at the watch station,” Hildred said. “Do you want me to request permission to view them?”

“That’s a great idea. But I’ll do it this morning.”

After breakfast, Hildred went to bed, Inrick left for his stake out, and Valek headed to the watch station. The records room was open to the public, but a person had to have a good reason for wanting to access them.

“Busy night?” Captain Ryda asked when he stopped in her office.

“Did your patrollers report me?”

“Not you specifically. They said they didn’t recognize you as one of their team members and the situation seemed dodgy. That woman wasn’t like the others, so they let you go. However, they followed you to twenty-five Cucumber Court and then lost you. Did you find the person responsible for the incidents?” Hope laced her voice.

“I think so. I’m going to need a few days to sort it out. Can you keep your patrollers away from the area during that time?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I don’t want to spook them into moving to another location.”

“All right. Do you need any help from my people?”

“Not at this time, but I do need access to the records room.”

“I already checked. Twenty-five Cucumber Court is owned by Bea and Evert. She works for a baker, and he works for a local farmer, picking fruit and vegetables. No criminal history for either of them. No children.”

“That’s good to know, but I need to look up their neighbors.”

“Of course.” Ryda led him downstairs.

There were two wings of the underground level. One contained the jail cells and the other held the town’s records.

A patroller guarded the door. He was slouched against it with his eyes half closed, but he straightened to attention when he spotted the captain. “Back so soon, Captain?”

She smiled. “Please let this man into the records room. He can stay as long as he needs.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Thank you.” Then to Valek, “Let me know if you need anything else.”

“I will.”

She left. The patroller eyed Valek with curiosity, but he unlocked the door. It opened into a foyer. A bench filled with lanterns, oil, and matches lined the left wall.

“Light your lantern here. No open flames are allowed inside,” the man said in a tone that implied he had given the speech a million times. “If you knock the lantern over, don’t hesitate to extinguish the flames. There are plenty of buckets of sand within reach. Removal of any records is strictly prohibited. Your pack will be searched prior to your exit.”

Valek wasn’t carrying one, but he said, “Thanks.” Lighting a lantern, Valek entered the main room.

File cabinets stacked to the ceiling lined the walls and created new walls within the space. Step stools littered the floor. Thank fate each drawer was labeled. The deeds to all the buildings in Castletown filled two entire floor-to-ceiling cabinets. Each district had its own drawer. He pulled the one labeled Garden District out, hoping they were organized by street address and not by owner’s names.

Luck was with him. He sorted through them and found forty-three Peach Lane. A few desks had been scattered around. Each had a bucket of sand next to it. Valek sat down and opened the file. The owner of the house was not a person, but a corporation—Secure, Trustworthy, and Reliable, Incorporated.

Valek wasn’t familiar with the company. If he had to guess, it might be one of the caravans that transported goods between military districts. The name was a bit over the top, though. Too earnest. And the only reason for them to purchase a house was probably for the owner of the company and their family. However, something about it just didn’t sit right. He wondered if the company owned other buildings in Castletown.

He took the lantern and strode to the record room’s entrance. The same bored patroller stood guard.

“I’ll be right back.” Valek set the lantern onto the bench in the foyer.

The man yawned.

Valek hurried to the FIIK room. He took the map and half the incident reports and carried them to the record room. He made a second trip for the rest of the stack. Then he spread the map out on the desk.

Bea lived two houses away from forty-three Peach Lane. Good thing he had organized the reports by date. He opened the first one. The address of the victim had been recorded along with their name. Valek located the residence on the map and then began the very tedious process of checking the owners of each of the houses nearby.

The owners’ names didn’t spark any inspiration, but the fourth house he checked was also owned by Secure, Trustworthy, and Reliable, Incorporated. And it was close enough to victim numbers two, three, and four.

Valek spent the rest of the day checking addresses. Sure enough, a building owned by Secure, Trustworthy, and Reliable, Incorporated was near all the victims’ houses. Were they providing safe houses for new magicians? He needed to investigate the company. Good thing he was in the record room.

The files on the companies registered in Castletown filled three cabinets. Thank fate they were alphabetized. Secure, Trustworthy, and Reliable, Incorporated claimed to be a general contractor available for any and all jobs. The company was owned by Gestirn. Valek didn’t recognize the name. Not a surprise.

Valek wrote down all the information. Perhaps Kenda would have some insight. By the time he finished his research, it was close to sunset.

Suddenly ravenous, he hurried back to the safe house. Hildred and Inrick had waited for him.

“Report,” he said to Inrick as they sat down for dinner.

“No one left or entered the house all day.”

Disappointing, but typical. “I’ll keep watch tonight.”

“Aren’t you exhausted?” Hildred asked.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had to stay up multiple nights, but I’ve plenty of experience.”

Valek talked a good game, but after hours of nothing but silence, he struggled to stay awake. He walked in circles around forty-three Peach Lane to keep alert. No one raced through the streets screaming. Nothing happened.

He dragged his body back to the safe house, updated Hildred and Inrick, and collapsed onto the couch.

* * *

Waking in time for dinner, Valek dressed and joined his agents. “Anything?” he asked.

“Yes,” Inrick said. “A man arrived in the afternoon. He carried a couple bags filled with food.”

“Did you recognize him?”

“Yes. But for the life of me, I can’t remember his name.” Inrick slapped his forehead. “Sorry.”

“Describe him.”

“He wore a merchant uniform. He’s around fifty years old. About six feet tall. In good shape. I’m sure I’ve seen him, but I can’t place him.”

“It’ll come to you eventually. How long did he stay?”

“An hour or so. Not long. I followed him when he left. He stopped in the Black Cat Tavern. I waited a few minutes before going in, and I discovered something very interesting.” Inrick leaned back with a cat-that-caught-the-mouse expression.

“Go on,” Valek urged.

“The man was sitting and talking with our infamous food taster, Star.”

It hit Valek like a bolt of lightning. Star! Or rather STaR, Inc., Secure, Trustworthy, and Reliable, Incorporated. He smiled. It was four days before the cold season, and he’d won the bet. Then he sobered. It shouldn’t have taken him that long to make the connection. He blamed it on lack of sleep.

Nothing happened of note the following two days. But on the day before the start of the cold season, Valek’s midnight vigils paid off. Deep in the night, two men entered Peach Alley. They knocked lightly on number forty-three.

The door opened and two people joined the men. By their silhouettes, Valek guessed the slight and shorter figure was the young girl he had seen inside. Beside her was another man, but it was too dark to discern any facial features.

All four exited the alley and headed south. Valek followed. They kept to the shadows for the most part and avoided the patrols. However, they couldn’t avoid all the streetlamps. When they crossed a puddle of light, he caught a glimpse of the men. Two he didn’t recognize, but the man from the house was Porter. The Commander’s kennel master, and the person Inrick couldn’t name.

That was a surprise and yet not. Porter had some magical ability, and it was obvious he was helping this new magician escape Ixia. Valek knew Porter had helped others in the past, but he hadn’t interfered. In fact, he had been glad. Had shutting down Star’s operations effected Porter’s efforts? Was that why they had to keep moving the young girl to different houses throughout Castletown?

Valek continued to trail them. They reached the edge of the Snake Forest and stopped. Inching closer, Valek stayed in the shadows. Porter handed the one man a pouch. It jingled with coins. Then he gave another pouch to the young girl.

Porter crouched down to her eye level. “Message me when you get to Sitia. You can send letters with the trade caravans going to Ixia. That’s not illegal. Okay?”

“I will,” she said. “I know I caused you and all those poor people so much trouble.” She lunged into his arms. “Thank you so very much.”

He hugged her back. “You can thank me by learning how to control your magic and living a happy life in Sitia.”

They said goodbye. The girl accompanied the men into the forest, and Porter headed north, presumably to the castle. Valek could find the kennel master at any time, so he followed the group into the dark woods. The moon was barely a sliver, but he noticed there was a narrow path. Probably an old smuggler’s route.

After a hundred feet or so, they lit a small bullseye lantern and shone the thin beam of light onto the ground. It was risky. The light could be spotted by the border patrol, but they avoided tripping over roots or walking into trees. Besides, the patrols stayed near the border. And it would take a good eight hours to walk that far.

Valek decided he’d ensure the young girl reached Sitia. He would distract the border guards if they spotted the smugglers. In his opinion, the Commander’s view on magicians was overly harsh, and Valek had helped quite a number of new ones escape Ixia.

The group trekked until dawn. Then they rested as they ate breakfast. Valek’s stomach grumbled. He’d left his pack at the safe house, but he had a few sticks of beef jerky tucked into his pockets. They resumed their walk and reached the border with Sitia a few hours later.

The Snake Forest undulated like a snake from the Soul Mountains in the east to the Sunset Ocean in the west. It was the official border between Ixia and Sitia. The Commander had cleared the last hundred feet of the forest to make it harder for people to enter or exit Ixia illegally. Of course, people found ways to cross. Nighttime was the easiest. The sheer length of the border made it impossible to cover every mile. If a person was patient and waited for a patrol to move through an area, they could cross in the daylight without worry.

That was what the men did. Finding hiding spots, they hunkered down in the forest. Wearing dark gray cloaks, they blended in. A few hours later, a patrol came through. Valek watched the unit. The team did a decent job of searching for intruders, but they missed checking some obvious spots. Valek remembered the exercise he had done with Trevar, Adrik, Ari, Janco, and the others. Adrik had told his teammates to poke at large shadows with a stick. It had been a good idea and could be used even in the daylight to poke dense spots of greenery or, for the cold season, the dead spots. Perhaps Valek would assign Ari and Janco to give the patrols a refresher course.

The trio waited another hour before leaving their hiding spots and crossing the clearing into Sitia. Valek stopped at the edge of the forest, watching. Would the two men abandon the young girl as soon as they crossed into Sitia? However, it appeared they planned to stay with her until they reached a town. Probably Robin’s Nest in the Featherstone Clan’s lands, but he wasn’t quite sure how far west they had drifted. Sitia had eleven official clans, and one illegal clan that called themselves the Daviians because they hid in the Daviian Plateau.

Alea had been from that clan. Ferde had been another Daviian, but he was defeated by Yelena before he could finish the Efe ritual and was currently in jail. Valek hoped the Sitian Council had executed him by now, but he doubted it. They ruled by committee, and it took them ages to make decisions.

Tired, hungry, and thirsty, Valek trudged back to Castletown, arriving at the safe house a few hours after dinner. Inrick waited inside.

“Phew,” Inrick said. “We were worried.” He held up a hand. “Yeah, I know we’re not supposed to be, but I sat outside that house all day and I just knew it was empty.”

“Where’s Hildred?”

“She relieved me at dinner. We didn’t want to take eyes off that place just in case.”

Valek explained about the nighttime escape. However, he didn’t tell Inrick about Porter. Either his agent would recognize him or not. Porter had one of those average faces that was forgettable. Plus, he kept to himself and most of Valek’s agents didn’t use dogs for their missions.

“So, Star’s getting back into smuggling,” Inrick said.

“It appears so, but I need to do some more investigating to find out the extent.” And decide what to do about it.

“At least there’s some good news,” Inrick said. “No more night terrors for the locals. What are you going to tell Captain Ryda?”

“Let’s wait a couple nights to ensure that the magician caused the incidents. I’d hate to tell her too soon.”

“All right. What about Hildred?”

“You can tell her I’m back but have her remain in the Garden District tonight just in case.”

Valek ate a large portion of the leftover stew and collapsed into bed. When he worked as an assassin fifteen years ago, he could go days without sleep. Now he felt every one of his thirty-five years. Getting old sucked.

* * *

Over the next few nights, all remained quiet and calm. As promised, Valek visited Bea to tell her the news. Then he headed to Ryda’s office to update her on the situation.

“We’ve solved the problem. You shouldn’t have any more unexplained drunk and disorderly incidents.”

“Was it something in the well water?” she asked.

“No. It was due to magic. A young person came into her powers and had limited control.”

“Have you…” She swallowed the rest of her words. Even experienced watch captains balked at the thought of killing a young person.

“Yes. I’ve taken care of the problem.” Sort of. He still needed to figure out a few things, but one crisis at a time.

Ryda paled as she assumed the worst, adding more fuel to Valek’s reputation. To distract her, he told her about how easy it had been for him to get into the station.

“I’ll need to resume training and hire more officers,” she said. “When you arrested all of Star’s employees, I lost a few patrollers who were corrupt.” She cleared her throat. “Thanks for the help. Anytime you need assistance, just let me know.”

“Will do.”

Valek left the station. It was the fourth day of the cold season. A light snow fell, dusting the town with a layer of white. He wrapped his short cape over his shoulders, covering the top half of his uniform. After spending the last dozen nights outside wearing only a few layers of clothing, Valek thought he’d never be warm again.

He longed for his apartment, imagining an evening sitting on his couch with a book in hand next to the blazing hearth. However, he had one more stop to make. As daylight drained from the cloud-covered sky, Valek hurried to The Sole. When he entered, the patrons frowned at the cold air and snow sweeping in his wake. He hurried to shut the door before heading to the table in the corner.

Glancing around, Valek was relieved he had arrived before Trevar and Adrik. Again, he noted the younger crowd.

Dallin, the innkeeper, grunted at him as he set a mug down. “Yer back.”

“I come through Castletown from time to time and I liked the eggs.”

Another grunt. “Tonight’s pork and beans.” He disappeared into the kitchen.

Valek sipped the golden liquid in the mug. It was warm and tasted like apples and cinnamon. The drink hit his stomach like a hot coal, sending a wave of heat right through him. Damn good stuff. He considered removing his cape but didn’t want to expose his patroller’s uniform and scare the customers away. His black pants were standard issue for many different jobs. He already stood out as the oldest patron in the inn.

Trevar and Adrik entered. They said hello to a few people before winding their way to Valek’s table, once again asking to join him.

“Any news?” Trevar asked.

Valek updated them. “There shouldn’t be any more problems.”

He frowned. “Does this mean our mission is over?”

“What’s been going on with the black market dealers?”

“We’re slowly earning their trust. And now that the strange incidents are over, they’ll eventually relax.”

Valek considered. Knowing the names and locations of all the new dealers in Castletown would be beneficial. And experience was just as important as schooling when it came to spying. “Keep gaining their trust. We can reevaluate your status in a few weeks.”

They both grinned.

“Do our reports meet your expectations?” Trevar asked.

“Your first one was fine, but I haven’t been back to the castle in almost two weeks. Do you have any new information?”

Trevar’s blue eyes lit with delight. “Oh, you’re going to love this. We spotted Star in town.” He waited.

“She’s allowed to come to town during her time off,” Valek said.

“I know, but she was in the Black Cat Tavern. She’s planning on getting back into business.”

“How do you know?”

“She’s recruiting people.”