Ilona Andrews - Bayou Moon

“Who lives here?”

“Earl Declan Camarine, Marshal of the Southern Provinces.”

“Are we going to get arrested?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

William growled at him.

A window on the second floor burst in an explosion of glittering shards. A body hurled through it and a boy dropped into a half crouch onto the balcony rail, his crazy auburn hair blazing with red streaks like a shock of dark flame. Wild yellow eyes stared at William from a narrow face. The kid looked at least a foot taller than he remembered.

“Jack!” Rose’s voice called.

Jack’s eyes flared with feral fire. He hissed and leaped off the balcony, changing in mid-jump, shredding his clothes. A spotted adolescent lynx landed into the green grass and took off at a dead run, heading toward the trees.

Wouldn’t be able to pull it off in the Edge, William reflected. In the Edge, changing shapes took a few seconds, but in the Weird with magic full force, you could go furry with no pain on the fly. Jack spilled out of his clothes quickly. No pause, no awkwardness. The kid had practice going from dressed to furry. “Jack!” Rose ran out onto the balcony. She wore a peach-colored gown and her hair was up. “Jack, wait! Damn it.”

She saw them below. Her eyes widened.

“I’m here to see Declan,” William told her.

Two minutes later he sat in Declan’s study. He’d left Gaston with Rose, who took him to the kitchen. The kid ate like a horse.

Declan looked at him from behind the desk. He hadn’t changed a bit: same hard eyes, same blond hair. Except he was growing it out again. He grew it long every few years to use as a power resource in case he had to sacrifice a part of himself to magic. Where William was leaner and taller, Declan looked like he could punch through walls. Judging by the look in his eyes, he wouldn’t mind bashing his fist against a few bricks.

Declan surveyed him. “Doing well?”

“Yeah.”

“Looking kind of thin there. My mother’s always looking for a new diet. Maybe you can share some tips?”

William bared his teeth. “Yeah. Shouldn’t you be all fat by now? Is that some flab on your sides?”

“Fuck you.”

They looked at each other.

“Two fucking years.” Declan spread his hands. “Two fucking years you’re gone without a word. So. What can the Office of Marshal do for you?”

William unclenched his teeth. It killed him to say it. “I need help.”

Declan nodded. “Tell me about it.”

Half an hour later William finished. It would’ve taken less time, but two minutes into the story he’d mentioned Nancy Virai, and Declan had turned pale and taken a big square bottle of Southern bourbon out of the cabinet. The bottle was half-empty now.

“So let me get it straight.” Declan leaned forward. “You’ve got the journal.”

“Not on me.”

Declan rolled his eyes. “Give me some credit. You do have it, though?”

“Yes.”

“Chances are, the girl’s father is still in Kasis. Once what’s left of Spider’s flunkies report back to their home office, the Hand will come after her, and they will want to use him as leverage. You want to save her, but she left you. And if you don’t give the journal to the Mirror, they will skin you alive. You want to get the girl and what’s left of her family out of the Mire, but you can’t do it through the border with the Broken, because they have too much magic. Have I got it right?

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Declan nodded his blond head and gulped more bourbon. “I’ll need a favor in return.”

Figured. “What is it?”

“Jack. He’s a good kid, but … he needs guidance. He needs understanding and I can’t give it to him because I have no idea what goes on in his head.”

William nodded. “Fine. I’ll help with Jack. I would’ve anyway.”

“I know, but you hate to owe anyone. This way we’re even.”

Declan pulled a copper sphere from the corner of his desk and tapped it. The sphere cracked in the middle. The two halves slid apart, revealing a pale crystal. A spark of light flared within the crystalline depths and streamed in a ray of light to form a map six inches above the sphere.

“Louisiana. Border. Mire.” Declan pronounced the words with crisp exactness. The map centered on the green blob of the Mire where it touched the border of the Louisiana.

“Kasis,” Declan said.

The map remained where it was.

“Blasted thing. Kasis Castle. ”

The map slid to the Adrianglian border. A small dot of white glow flared on the boundary and grew into a gray castle. Declan scowled at it. “I’ve had a run-in with Antoine de Kasis before. The de Kasis family has treaties in place with both the Gauls and us that keep them out of our border squabbles. They were put in place a century ago due to some classified service the family provided to both Louisiana and Adrianglia. I never could find out what exactly they did. The treaties forbid any sort of military action on their land. The price of this sweet deal is complete neutrality from the Kasis family: they can’t aid either Louisiana or Adrianglia.”

William nodded. “I wondered why the Mirror didn’t just walk me into the Mire through Kasis. Now I know.”

“There is another reason. Antoine de Kasis is dirty. He’s a Louisiana sympathizer, and he’s very useful to them. His lands are the only way into the Mire without the bother of dealing with the Louisiana border guard. The Mirror has to suspect he’s dirty, because if I know, they definitely know. However, they lack proof of his involvement. If they’re holding the girl’s father there, it’s likely he’s guarded by the Hand’s agents, which would implicate Antoine. The Mirror won’t like invading Kasis for two reasons. First, they know Antoine is dirty and they observe him in order to gather intelligence on the Hand’s movements. If they take him out, there goes their chance to spy on the Hand. Second, if the Hand isn’t there for some reason and if the Mirror’s agents don’t find any clear-cut proof of Antoine’s involvement with the Gauls, invading Kasis would cause an international incident of huge proportions.”

William nodded again. “I have it figured out. I will use the journal as leverage.”

“That’s a really dangerous game to play,” Declan said. “If you get burned, William, there is nothing any of us can do.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“My job is to warn. Here is the interesting thing. According to the treaties, if de Kasis is found to have violated his agreements, the realm that proves his wrongdoing gets to confiscate his lands. There isn’t much land there, but whatever there is will become the property of Adrianglia. You need to buy that land from the government. They wouldn’t sell it to you normally, so you have to make that part of your deal with the Mirror. It will give you access to the Mire, and you can smuggle your girl and her family out.”

William exhaled. “So all I need is to get the money to buy the place. Borrow it, steal it …”

Declan stared at him.

“What?”

Declan braided the fingers of his hands. “ Borrow it?”

William shrugged.

“When Casshorn died, his possessions passed to you. You’re his adopted son and his only heir. You own two castles, half of the Darkwood, a forty-mile stretch of Darron River, for the use of which you charge the shipping companies a sizable toll, and the land on which the city of Blueshire sits. They pay you rent. Why the devil would you need to borrow the money, you dumb bastard? You’re richer than I am.”

William’s brain screeched to a halt.

Declan got up. “While you had your two-year-long pity party and hid out in a shitty trailer, playing with your toys and drinking beer, I had to take care of your financials. And if you think I don’t have my own shit to deal with, you’re sadly mistaken.” He pulled several large ledgers from the shelf and dropped them in a stack on the table. “There you go. All yours now, Lord William Sandine. Have a go at it. Don’t spend it all in one place and hire somebody good with money to manage it for you.”