58. weird, world.
“So there really is a Golem on the loose? Squishing dudes who attack Jewish ladies? I say we let him get on with it,” Charlie said, wielding her steak knife enthusiastically, sending it squeaking across her plate. “Of course, the million dollar question is: where is it? Something that big shouldn’t be able to just disappear that quickly. I mean, how fast can it move? Can he fly? Does he teleport? Maybe he’s got rocket boots.”
“Maybe it senses when it’s needed and materializes on the spot?” Alberto suggested. “That would explain the single set of footprints, and why no one sees it come or go.”
“The stories say the creature’s powered by words, right?” Robbie asked Teodor.
“Yes. Sometimes it’s a scroll put into its mouth or head. Sometimes it’s a stone tablet with a spell carved into it. Sometimes the words are just written on its forehead, where the rabbi can erase them when the Golem’s work is done.”
“Stone tablets, huh?” Charlie said meaningfully. “Rob-maybe that explains why your radar keeps blipping. Maybe this Golem has one of the stones.”
Robbie straightened in his chair. “You may be onto something there, Red.”
“You’re sure this girl Devorah is the one you saw last night?” Akiko said. “If so, that places her at both scenes, and that means it’s no coincidence.”
“And if we’ve connected those dots, chances are the Order, has, too,” Diego said. “There was at least one camera on that street-I pulled the wires as soon as I could, but we have to assume it captured something.”
“We should find this girl, then,” Genny said. “Before the Order does. Warn her to stay out of sight and keep away from the cemetery.”
“Okay-how are we gonna do that?” Charlie demanded. “Go door to door through Josefov asking if a Devorah related to the Maharal lives there?”
“Is there a Hotel Antik nearby?” Annie asked.
Nikola nodded, gesturing with the hunk of bread he had been buttering. “Two streets over, actually. Why do you ask?”
“Because she had a matchbook from there-it was brand new, so she must have picked it up recently. It might be a good place to start.”
“Annie Palehorse, since when did you become Sherlock Holmes?” Charlie said, audibly impressed.
“If I’m going to go into law, I have to pay attention to details,” Annie said with a pleased grin.
“According to Declan’s notes, he was very close to bringing in a woman afflicted with aqua-manipulation,” Director Franc said. “She’s described as being five foot six, dark hair and eyes, prominent nose, missing the pinkie finger on her right hand. Jewish. Does that description match the woman you saw?”
“Well, I didn’t get a good look at her hand in the dark, sir,” Roland said conscientiously. “But yes-I’d say it was the same woman.” He sat back in his chair, poised and relaxed, one long leg crossed over the other. Viktor knew it was uncharitable of him but the young man’s assurance annoyed him. He had never been one to intimidate his team or assert his superiority, but he did expect at least a modicum of deference and respect. Baginski’s casual attitude grated.
“That breed of Touched couldn’t have caused the inflicted injuries. You didn’t witness Declan’s death? Not even from afar?”
“No, sir. By the time I had turned the corner, he was already lying on the ground past any chance of saving.”
“And you didn’t hear anything?”
“I heard him struggling and the crack of his skull-pardon me, it was a terrible thing…” Roland covered his mouth with one hand, eyes squeezed tightly closed as he shifted in his chair. Viktor sat patiently at his desk while he ‘recovered’, resisting the urge to tap his pencil upon the file that lay open before him. “…The woman was scrambling to her feet by the time I approached the scene-that was when she struck me.”
The Director glanced at the purpling mark on Roland’s wide chin, visible around his dark goatee. “I can see how that would have given her time to escape. You should count yourself lucky that she didn’t have access to a sizeable body of water. There are photos in here of the previous agent who tried to detain her-she managed to drive an icicle through his chest that was almost a meter long. Perhaps we’ll have to upgrade her to a ‘shoot on sight’ case. And you say the only thing she said was ‘The Maharal’s servant’ had saved her?”
“Exactly that, sir.”
“I suppose that gives us an avenue for inquiry, as ridiculous as it sounds. These Touched are such a superstitious lot-doubly so when they’re Jewish, as well. Well, thank you for submitting this statement, Roland. Just one last question: why exactly were you in the area at that time of night?”
“You did receive my email, sir?”
“Of the video clip? Yes. It’s very peculiar.”
“Yes, well, I assumed that since there had been two such incidents so close to the Old Jewish Cemetery, the place may be a new hotbed of Touched activity. I went to investigate. I figured it was only a matter of time before something else occurred.”
“A solid assumption,” Viktor said begrudgingly. “But you are not a field operative, Roland-”
“Director, I know my last application was denied, but I’m truly passionate about fieldwork,” Roland interjected earnestly, face practically glowing. “I think my instincts and intuition will be better suited out in the field than in data analysis.”
Viktor sighed. “I appreciate your passion, but you are still currently assigned to deskwork. The next round of field examinations isn’t for another month. Until then, you will be expected to continue in your appointed duties and leave the practical investigations to the operatives. Do I make myself clear?”
Roland’s jaw tightened as he swallowed audibly and nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“This is for your own safety as much as it is standard operating procedure. You don’t have the training or the equipment to handle a dangerous Touched should you encounter one-I would think your near brush last night would have impressed that upon you. That could have been you instead of Declan, if you had been a little sooner on the scene. Now, I’d like you to review the footage from the area and submit your findings. I’ve just been notified that the High Dracul herself is on her way for an inspection of the Branch tomorrow and I would like to have some solid data to show her on this case.”
“Of course, sir. Right away.”
Roland was careful to close the office door gently; it wouldn’t do to let his frustration be too obvious. Director Franc was a condescending asshole. A man takes initiative in a case and he’s so quick to cut it off at the knees. It showed a complete lack of ambition-how the man had gotten to be director of a Branch was beyond him. Still, at least one good thing had come from an otherwise pointless meeting: now he knew the High Dracul was on her way. If he played his cards right this could truly be his chance to blow this popsicle stand. Franc may not want to reward initiative, but perhaps the Dracul would appreciate his efforts.
He spun his squeaky chair around and pulled up the footage from the street. As before, the lighting and angle of the camera made it difficult to be absolutely certain of details. The Touched woman ran past, promptly followed by the now-dead Declan. Then came a blur of movement; no matter how carefully he slowed down the video or tried to go frame by frame, it was impossible to catch a distinct view of whatever it was. Then the group arrived-and then the feed went dead. Hmm…
Glancing over his shoulder to assure himself that his work was going unheeded, he toggled over to a new screen and pulled up the known fugitive database. They were still on the first page, listed as the highest priority: Akiko and Christopher Robin Beechum. He failed to see the family resemblance and hoped the guy had given his parents hell for his shit name. There was a short physical description attached to their photos-why did they always feel the need to do that, when the picture was right there?-and paragraph-long biographies. Last known permanent addresses and the location of the last sighting, which was Paris. They’d really booked it since then. Under known associates were similar files for Diego Fernandez and Charlotte Hawthorne, girlfriend of the brother and smokin’ hot with those tattoos and piercings. She certainly looked like a girl who knew how to have fun; a shame she was mixed up in Touched bullshit. And under reason for pursuit was a single sentence: Needed for questioning.
That set off some bells. Most of the time a Touched bulletin was captioned with ‘Extremely dangerous; responsible for the deaths of x-number of operatives,’ or ‘Wanted for study, classification, and research’, which was the standard line from the medical division. They were always looking for new guinea pigs and the more obscure and rare the breed of Touched, the higher the priority for capture. But ‘Needed for questioning’? That sounded pretty cloak and dagger to him.
Seeing that Fernandez had once been an operative-and wasn’t that just fucking rich? The bastard was one of them, one of the monsters they were trying to contain, and they had made him an operative; just goes to show how fucking stupid bureaucratic organizations could be-Roland tried to pull up his old file through the main database. And hit a brick wall-his screen went black and the words CLASSIFIED: LEVEL 1 AUTHORIZATION NEEDED flashed across it in red. He hurriedly hit exit and went through the code to erase his attempt, praying that the alert hadn’t immediately registered on the Director’s terminal. A breathless handful of minutes passed before he relaxed; Franc hadn’t stormed out demanding an explanation, so it seemed he had caught it in time. The last thing he wanted was to tell the Director why he’d been pulling up files unrelated to his current work.
He glanced again at the initial bulletins and chewed on a hangnail. There was something going on with this group, something super secret squirrel that the higher ups didn’t want the lowly peons to know about. Level 1 authorization suggested that someone in the top tier wanted these people badly-perhaps even the High Dracul.
Suddenly her visit didn’t seem quite so random. Inspection my ass, Roland thought, feeling rather giddy. She must be tracking them. Must have known they were heading for Prague-and here he was, sitting on information about their exact location. Well, relatively exact; they couldn’t have been far away, given how quickly they had arrived on the scene.
Fingers dancing quickly over his keyboard, Roland stripped the relevant footage from the original file. Plugged in his phone and moved everything. Then went to politely rap at Director Franc’s door.
“Sir?” he said, poking his head in. “Bad news, sir. It seems the camera on that street was malfunctioning. It didn’t record anything last night.”
Viktor sighed and rubbed at his forehead. “Naturally. Thanks for the head’s up.”
“Absolutely. And, sir?”
“Yes, Roland?”
“All things considered, I was wondering if I could leave early today? I’m still feeling pretty shaken-thought I’d go talk to my counselor.”
Viktor flapped a dismissive hand. “Sure, that’s fine. Staci’s been asking to pick up a few more hours anyway-I’ll give her a call and have her cover you; then payroll won’t yell at me for overages. Win/win all around.”
“Perfect. Thank you, sir. See you tomorrow.”
Or not, Roland thought with a private snigger as he hurried to the elevator. Perhaps by this time tomorrow I’ll have handed over some priority fugitives to the High Dracul and have a fat promotion lined up. Then we’ll see what you have to say about me, Viktor Franc.
Mindful of straining Nikola’s gift, it was a small group that set out for the Hotel Antik: Annie, Charlie, Robbie, and Genny. Charlie had been somewhat surprised when Genny asked to join them; but then Prague was a beautiful city and perhaps the Saint was feeling homesick. This would be one of her only chances to sight-see. Or perhaps she just wanted to meet the mysterious Devorah. Either way, she was glad she was coming out of her shell. And her gift would certainly be useful should they run into trouble.
She wasn’t relying solely on Genny’s firestarting or Nikola’s clouding, though. Diego had given her his gun just before they set off. It was firmly tucked into the waistband of her jeans, hidden beneath her loose shirt. The touch of the metal to her skin was sobering and uncomfortable, but also reassuring. They couldn’t afford to take chances any more.
The hotel was in a beautiful little building. The entrance was sandwiched between an antiques shop and a restaurant. The lobby was decorated in soothing creams and pale oranges, with a splash of red on the carpets and a profusion of verdant potted plants and miniature trees in pristine porcelain vases. At the cherry wood counter sat a concierge in a red uniform; Charlie half-expected a bellhop wearing a little box hat on a string to walk in and offer to take their luggage.
“Good evening,” Nikola said to the concierge, a middle-aged man with a bristly red moustache and flamboyant eyebrows.
“And to you, sir. Do you have a reservation? Otherwise I’m sorry to say every room is currently taken.”
“No, I’m actually looking for someone-well, my friends are. I’m just the chaperone.”
“Her name is Devorah-” Annie began, only for the man to nod with a resigned half-smile.
“Just a moment, please.” He stepped around the counter and through a service door. There was a muffled conversation and he returned with another man in a black housekeeping uniform and gloves. Now Annie knew where Devorah had gotten her dark curly hair and ice blue eyes. Though in the father’s case, the dark curls had started to go noticeably grey.
“You’re looking for my daughter?” he asked, pulling off his gloves. “What has she done this time?”
Annie abruptly realized they hadn’t really thought of a good excuse to be looking for her. “Well, it’s just-”
“We met her earlier today,” Charlie cut in smoothly. “On a tour of the graveyard.”
The man nodded. “I know she spends a lot of time there.”
“Yeah-she told us the story about the rabbi, showed us around a bit. We’re brand new to the city and it was nice having the insider perspective. Anyway, we went our separate ways for lunch and we forgot to exchange numbers. And we wanted to see if she’d be up for doing something tomorrow. We’re only going to be here for a couple more days and it’d be a shame to leave without saying goodbye properly.”
Devorah’s father smiled, obviously relieved. “That’s very kind of you. And you’re in luck, because she’s actually out on the patio right now. I’ll ask her if she wants to see you. What’s your name?”
“I’m Annie,” she spoke up quickly. “Tell her Annie’s here.”
“Alright, Annie. I’ll be right back.”
“Do a lot of people come looking for Devorah?” Charlie asked the concierge after the man had disappeared back through the door. “You didn’t seem all that surprised.”
“Most of the people who come looking for Miss Loeb are wearing police uniforms,” he replied dryly.
A moment later the door banged open sharply and Devorah was staring at them, hair windblown and cheeks red from the cold. “What are you doing here? And who-”
“Your dad said something about a patio?” Annie said in a rush with a wide smile. “Why don’t we go sit down and chat.”