Infernal Investigations

It was hard to focus as the three of us crept to the front area of the warehouse.

The first reason was the excessive noise coming from outside. Before, the relatively placid daily hustle and bustle had been restrained, not as bad as it normally was, with the constant snow keeping many people indoors.

That had changed between Versalicci’s group entering the area and a host of locals going into action in response. Things were still relatively quiet , since even if no Watch patrol would want to tangle with them, they still didn’t want to draw attention. But I could hear the sounds of everyone else hurriedly finding somewhere else to be, or smaller parts of either group navigating the maze of alleyways and spaces between warehouses trying to make their way to the flanks or rear. And of various warehouse staff and guards hurriedly barricading their buildings just in case.

I cursed my half-brother for deciding to bring such a large entourage just as much as I cursed him for being on time. The former was understandable, outside his stronghold and meeting with such a potentially dangerous factor as myself, but still he could have been more subtle about it.

Being on time was more reasonable, but couldn’t he have been an insulting ass for once and been late to try to irritate me?

“Does he think you’re trying to kill him?” Tolman asked me as we crossed the floor. “Even if he only brought the people we can see, it’s too many by far.”

“He’s afraid of something,” I replied, while next to me, Alice continued to adjust her clothes as we got near the windows of this warehouse. “I don’t think it’s me.”

“Might not even be connected to us,” Alice said. “He’s got fingers in enough pies that something else might be the cause.”

“Possibly,” I said, my mind still thinking about the pie I’d insisted on trying to put my finger in.

Kissing her, well I would not call it a mistake, but I didn’t know what to call it instead. I didn’t even know what had possessed me to try it, that my response to her opening up to me was to make out with her. And now that I was a little more removed from emotion, wasn’t pressed up against her, one thought came to my mind.

Was what she said the truth, or was it a lie? Did she mean it, or was I being deceived once again?

I couldn’t get that thought out once it had snaked its way inside. I’d told myself to trust more. She’d had a chance to simply leave; she gained nothing from staying here. But still, that thought remains.

Some scars take longer to heal than others.

I forced my mind off that for now, peering out the window. I had more pressing matters to deal with. And tried to ignore her tail reaching for my hand even as I grasped it.

Versalicci and his assembled group were currently in a standoff with about equal numbers of local toughs, glaring at each other across the street. My brother and a broad, squat man whose face had almost more scars than skin were close to each other, exchanging words.

Not pleasant ones, mostly open threats to leave this neighborhood now from one side, and veiled threats about what would happen if they did from the other. Versalicci kept his cool as always, casual expression over that scraggly, awful goatee. It was the kind of argument that could be traded between one side or another for hours until an advantage was gained. Good odds that neither side had their full strength here, even beyond the groups I could hear moving amongst the other warehouses.

Given Versalicci’s love of using the underground, there’d be a group down there.

“Well,” I said. “What an utter mess. I suppose we'd better go fix it before it gets any worse.”

“Or we can run since we don’t want anything from him anymore,” Alice replied. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll kill him. Fuck, why is he even here, anyway?”

Good question. In the past, he would have trusted a lieutenant to handle this for him instead of coming here himself. In the past, Daver and Golvar were alive, all but one of his diabolists hadn’t betrayed him, and he wouldn’t be bodyguarded around by two of his least stable cutters with devils inside their brains.

“He’s not having much luck with staying in control,” I told her. “Let’s go add to that while helping him out, hmm?”

Neither of them seemed particularly convinced by that, although Tolman nodded slowly after a second.

“If any of them live, hells, even if they all die, it’s going to look like we set this up as an ambush for them,” he told Alice. “Forget the rest of the Black Flame; how long do you think the rest of the Quarter would let us live after betraying fellow Infernals?”

Alice scoffed, muttered something about how could anyone think we had contacts among Garretsville, and how people should be glad Versalicci’s dead. Still, she didn’t protest as I opened the door.

Good thing too, since as anatomically impossible as it would be, I did believe the human’s threat to try to rip my half-brother’s spleen out through his horn.

Opening the door was already drawing attention as I strode out into the light snowfall. Might as well draw all of it.

“Gio!” I called out, getting startled looks from both of my companions. “Making new friends, I see!”

Startled glances from all those assembled, and that was definitely a look of annoyance on Versalicci’s face before it smoothed into a mask of slight amusement.

“Harrow,” he replied, voice placid even with the number of weapons bared in all directions. “Attempting to, if these fine people would be reasonable.”

I resisted the urge to shake my head. Was he deliberately trying to irritate them?

“This is your arrangement?” The scarred man growled, turning his attention my way now that a new person to blame for his imagined woes had shown up.

One with fewer people likely to retaliate if violence did break out, he likely thought. I didn’t disabuse him of the notion that my little trio was less dangerous than Versalicci’s crew. Finding out two of us were diabolists was more likely to invite bullets, not less.

“No,” I said, inclining my head towards Versalicci. “His arranged meet-up, his chosen district.”

Versalicci cleared his throat. “I let you pick the warehouse.”

“And I trusted you to have made arrangements not to upset the locals,” I told him before turning my attention to the other man. “My apologies for intruding into your territory, mister-?”

“Gorge,” the other man said, still tense but no longer on the verge of pulling a weapon. “Not appreciating arrangements not being made ahead of time, ‘specially not with this many of you people in my area.”

Venomous glares from quite a number of ‘those people’ at that particular phrase.

“Well,” I replied evenly. “I didn’t expect so many people to be invited along. Apologies for my lack of foresight. Is there a problem related to how many of us there are?”

Gorge scowled. “Yeah, it draws a lot more attention than just a few of you. And a few of you draw plenty enough attention already.”

Oh, they were running something of their own nearby and were afraid we would bring Watch attention down on us. So, they wanted us to go to stop bringing attention here. Well, if they wanted that, they probably shouldn’t have kicked up such a fuss to begin with, but I’d hardly criticize their decisions. Not with pistols out.

“I don’t suppose offering you a front-row seat to the proceedings would help quell your worries?” I asked the ringleader. “I’ll even volunteer to have a pistol against my temple if that helps speed things along.”

That got puzzled and unsettled looks all around, the one on the fake ringleader’s the most confused.

Alice won on outrage, though.

“Malvia, you crazy fu-”.

Someone cut her off, probably Tolman, restraining her.

“No,” Gorge said. “Just be out of here in an hour. And don’t bring the Watch down on my head.”

“Of course,” I said, restraining a twitch of irritation. I could understand the man’s annoyance, but we weren’t amateurs.

Good thing he’d kept his ire directed entirely at me, as I glanced at Versalicci’s faked expression of amusement. Could my half-brother afford to hold petty grudges these days? I suppose I wouldn’t find out today.

Gorge was already heading away now, his ultimatum delivered. Leaving me a little puzzled as I headed back inside the warehouse. Versalicci and company were not that far behind.

That had seemed rather reasonable for someone who, moments before, had been trading threats with my brother. Why back off? The only thing that changed was my intervening, and while I would admit my new appearance was rather flashy, I doubted word had traveled that fast about who I was.

Something was off there. A reason to keep a weather ear out for the sounds of anyone getting ready to storm the warehouse while Versalicci and I talked. Much like I’d be keeping a weather ear out around later for any news from Garrestville.

Someone was apprehensive about Infernals being in their section of town. Something to look into later, because there were ten other Circles somewhere. Garretsville was a good candidate for one of them, being a place where people’s disappearances were arranged. Easy to have someone killed then dumped into the Nover. Maybe it wasn’t just the Nover they were being sent.

Maybe that discomfort about Infernals being in here had less to do with attention in general and more who had started snooping around their operation.

Something lower on the list of things to handle, though. I doubted they had a Circle, more than likely having just seen something else recently that spooked them. And the Circles were swiftly traveling down in the list of priorities, now that Alberta Vesper had said the amount of souls stored in them was far above what they needed for the ritual. As long as they had a way to transfer souls between them, they could make new ones, with time and a skilled diabolist.

They had a powerful diabolist. I couldn’t speak to the skills of anyone involved in the process, but someone had made those circles. Someone was organizing this. I doubted they were the same as the powerful diabolist, who had all the hallmarks of a tool swiftly being burned through.

Taken from NovelFire, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

If they weren’t going to dispose of whoever was doing the killings, the killer would have been taught better control, if only for less risk of ruining the plot by killing themselves. A similar plan might be in place for other parts of the conspiracy, such as the Black Flame who had done one of the murders and lost members for it. Only that had come to a halt when I’d started doing that task instead.

Bigger slices of the pie, Alice had said. Once I had time, and assuming I could keep my mind on it, I’d have to interrogate her thoroughly on everything she knew.

With my mind already slipping off that task, it would not be easy.

Meanwhile the priests pursued a fool’s errand of chasing after devices to transfer souls around. Mildly suspicious, except that again, if one could make the circles, one should be able to make devices capable of transferring souls. Nothing so grand as a Soul Lamp, into which one could drain an entire metaphorical lake of the dead into and still not be near full, but enough to transfer a few dozen at a time. Even if the ritual required five times Alberta’s estimate, they could do that in clandestine trips over time. No need to transport that many souls at once.

Enough time for thinking. Versalicci’s people had finished setting up, purposely covering any exit out of here. I didn’t comment on it. It was to be expected until business was done and Versalicci could scramble back under his rock.

No Malachti or Mitlau here. That didn’t mean no possessed, if he’d been fool enough to let devils into other subordinates. Or even no diabolists.

Even if I trusted Melissa completely, I did not trust what Versalicci allowed her to see. Not after having been in the same situation myself.

“Further inside is a little warmer,” I told him, gesturing up at the office area Alice and I had been hunkering down in. Among other things.

“I’ll pass on it,” Versalicci said, rejecting the option that meant tighter spaces and less of his people he could cram inside with him. “Further in will be warm enough.”

“You certainly know how to pick places well Gio,” I said, walking ahead of them all, not glancing back and pretending that there weren’t half a dozen guns ready to shoot me in the back. “Neither of us has even paid the other, it seems a bit ill-advised to end up indebted to me already before we’ve even begun trading.”

“Once again,” he said with chilling iciness. “I did not pick this specific place. I picked the district; you were the one who decided to set up next to someone else’s operation.”

“Actually, that was Alice,” I replied, getting an irritated glare from her. “Also, it’s Garretsville, Gio. I could pick any spot in this district and end up within spitting distance of some form of skullduggery. And they’re usually content to ignore even people they don’t like as long as it’s inconspicuous and not dragging thirty people in their wake. How common are we outside the Quarter, again?”

“We become less common the more of us willing to venture out that die, sister,” Versalicci replied. “I believe I have you to blame for the deaths of a number of them. Including poor Golvar still.”

I snorted in response, restraining a chuckle.

“You mock his death?” Versalicci said soberly.

“I mock your attempts to put the blame for it on me.” I told Versalicci. “Ignoring your assertions that I was responsible for his death. I did my best to save him. Not that he was willing to admit so when we talked last night.”

More strange looks. More whispers about me. Amusingly, people who actually knew me from the old days were the ones most in favor of the idea that my mind had finally snapped like a twig.

Versalicci wasn’t fazed at all. “The necromancer father of your new associate.”

So he knew about the Vespers. Not surprising. He’d have me tailed, of course, but that didn’t mean he knew everything.

“Close,” I said. “Not quite. Besides, the most I’d get is some fragmented shard of his soul at best, or a mangled reflection. The Hells don’t let us just drift here after death, Gio. Either way, forget about Golvar. He’s certainly forgotten about us by now.”

Perhaps not, but you tended to have more immediate problems in the Hells than obsessing over the people from your life before. That had been my impression from the glimpses I’d gotten. You either were worried about keeping on top, or if on the bottom, not being used as fuel.

“Arrangements have been made to see Alice out of the city,” Versalicci said in a bored tone. “If you want a guarantee your friends in Intelligence can’t find her, I can’t provide it. Keeping me and mine alive is more than enough to take my efforts in regard to Her Majesty’s hounds.”

Of course, not answering how he managed to keep away from said hounds. It had to be them he worked for. Someone just as strong maybe, but I couldn’t imagine Intelligence letting someone else in the government do something like the Black Flame Rising without their control of it, and any foreign country wouldn’t have wasted it so uselessly.

“Let’s get this done with then,” I said, matching his bored tone.

“Payment first,” Versalicci said.

Tolman and Alice both looked my way again, expressions questioning, and that only made Versalicci’s people tense up even more. The unasked question lingered that if we were going to call the whole thing off, why deliver the price to begin with?

Well, outside of the fact that Versalicci might just kill us.

“Of course,” I said, pulling a bundle of papers out from within my coat. “Do you want oaths first on all of this, or should we burn this? Or do you want to inspect it?”

He chose the latter, as I guessed he would. Wanting to ascertain exactly what materials I’d collected about him. Twenty slow minutes as he pored over every word, expression not shifting in the slightest.

The entire time, his crew kept their eyes on me. I recognized a few, only fresh recruits when I had faked my death, and few of those. Her Majesty’s recruitment effort had still left plenty of people for my brother to pick up instead.

Nobody moved, everyone staying casual, except when two of the Black Flame left, returning shortly after with a metal drum that they started piling wood in for the eventual burning. Of the papers, or of us if they needed to cover their tracks.

“An impressive collection,” he finally said after finishing the last page. “Missing quite a few things I can think of just off the top of my head that you could use against me.”

You have no idea, I thought. “Nothing I can actually prove, or even provide a good head start on an investigation into. All of that? It still leads to places, people, things that are still your assets. What is revealing the throats you’ve slit going to do? Make the Watch hate you even more?”

“I prefer people having as little information on my activities as possible,” he said darkly. “Any hint is-”

“Something I’ve kept secret this long,” I replied. “Am I suddenly going to stop because we made a deal? Come on Gio, we know where everything stands. You don’t kill me, I don’t kill you, we keep our respective sordid pasts under wraps, and leave each other alone as best we can. Only one of us couldn’t keep to that last part.”

Hands were close to guns. Honestly, I should be afraid of this entire thing going south, but for some reason, fear didn’t come as I stared Versalicci in the eyes.

“Fine,” he said, tossing the stack of papers down into the barrel. One of the Flame put more wood in, then a lit match. “I’ll want your oath the other copies are disposed of.”

“Oh, that was the only copy,” I told him as burning scraps started floating out of the barrel already. “I lied about there being other ones.”

A pause as Versalicci stared at me, then down at the burning papers.

“The only copy?” he repeated dispassionately.

“The original, actually. Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply there were two sets floating around. In my defense, I did try to have copies made. However, I didn’t have time, and the penmanship of the people I tried to have copy it was less than ideal.”

“You gave us an hour to copy over a hundred pages,” Alice snapped. “I’d like to see you do better!”

Versalicci’s forced polite smile grew just a little more strained, while various Black Flame members traded looks. Things were off script from the tight control Versalicci wanted. I’d essentially admitted to tricking him this entire time, but he also was getting what he’d been promised, anyway. Enough to spark a confrontation?

No, he kept whatever his actual feelings were deeply bottled up.

“Well, I suppose I get what I want either way,” he said. “In terms of the oath?”

That was easily done. Small cuts along the tips of each other’s pinkies, then letting the blood mix in a bowl. He inscribed the circle, clearly not trusting me to do it, and watching him draw, he was nearly flawless in its creation. Apparently, he’d learned a few tricks in case he didn’t have easy access to anyone trustworthy and actually knowledgeable about diabolism.

The usual case with oaths, that my blood should be lit on fire if I went back on the terms of the oath or I lied, and the same for him. Not unbreakable, but unless the touch was subtle enough, trying to undo the oath would trigger it.

His first demand was simple enough, me swearing that I had not made any additional copies of the papers, or that I had not had anyone else make them, and that as far as I knew no other copies existed.

Easily sworn, and my counter that Alice would not face any harm from his people on her way out of the city was sworn, as long as I added the assurance she wouldn’t try to provoke anyone. I did him the kindness of not trying to make him swear that he’d had nothing planned.

Then came the actually difficult one.

“Do you have any other information you could release that harms me?” He asked me blankly.

Now there were guns drawn openly. It didn’t take long puzzling out a precise answer.

“Nothing that anyone would believe me on,” I answered. “I know nothing that I could betray that anyone would believe, and I would not be able to provide evidence to change their minds. No evidence, or too little to be relevant.”

He considered my words for a few moments, then nodded. A few more oaths traded, neither of us had set a trap for each other, neither had people waiting at our homes, neither Intelligence or the Watch had been informed of this. Then it went to the obligatory demands no one expected to be met.

“An oath to tell me what Voltar is doing, and which priests are involved in this sordid affair.”

“Ha, no. Oath to tell me how you knew about Donald Tyler’s circle, and for Malachti and Mitlau to stay caged for the duration of this case.”

“An impasse then,” he replied.

“I’m tempted to throw in getting you to shave that scraggly beard,” I said, and he glared at me in genuine offense. “But I know a lost cause when I see one.”

“Agreed,” he replied. “Skall, are you ready to come with us?”

Alice gave him a toothy grin in reply.

“Oh, that,” I said, inclining my head. “Sorry, it’s been a busy day. Alice has decided not to go, so we’ll have to pass on your services. My apologies for having to cancel on such short notice.”

Silence now, as he stared at me, expression blank, eyes dead and considering me. Next to me, quiet throughout the talks given the tension, Alice pulled a hand out of her pocket. My tail moved, tucked it back in, and I shook my head slightly.

“Interesting,” Versalicci finally said, the word laden with venom. “So, I was dragged out here, through this charade, why?”

“Because I wanted you to see the files burnt. I was hardly going to let anyone have a reason to accuse me of not dealing fairly,” I replied. “Besides, why complain? It just means you got your price for free?”

Of course, he hadn’t gotten it for free since I’d forced him here, dancing to my tune, and he knew, the way he glared at me.

“If our business is concluded, I would appreciate being rid of you,” he said, and that sounded like genuine anger roiling beneath the surface.

“Of course,” I said, very aware of the still-drawn weapons as I moved to the doors, Tolman and Alice closely behind me, pausing and turning around once we were outside.

“Give my love to your father by the way,” I said now that we were clear of the building and well out of the range of any attempt to grab us without public attention. “I have it on good authority that he was in the city recently!”

That made something behind the expression shift, but I didn’t pay it any mind, turning around and grabbing Tolman and Alice by the arms and dragging them away. We needed to be well away from here before his reaction to processing that information might turn into ‘kidnap my sister and we try to fish answers on that out of her’. The chances of his trying that in the open were slim. Best still to reduce them as much as possible.

“What,” Alice whispered, “the fuck was that? His father is in town?”

“Yes,” I replied as we rounded the corner, no Black Flame on our tail. “I have it on a somewhat trustworthy authority that it was here in spirit a few weeks ago.”

“Do you want him scared?” Alice snapped at me.

“Yes, I do want him off his game,” I replied evenly. “Scared, or panicked is beyond my ambitions, but I’d settle for apprehensive and paranoid.”

“Paranoid Versalicci is an easy way to a slit neck, Malvia,” Tolman growled. “And some of us have people who can’t afford that.”

I swallowed an easy retort, and I nearly missed a step. “You’re right. My apologies for that. I won’t provoke him further with you around, and I’ll see what I can arrange for protection.”

“Be sure you do,” Tolman said gruffly. “Why are you provoking him?”

“He’s involved,” I said, going back into motion. “Not the mastermind, I doubt that. Or even actively on their side, perhaps. But something is up. That tip-off about the first circle was too neatly arranged in terms of timing.”

“The diabolists turning on him would have been a pretty good kick in his pants to start looking into things,” Alice said. “Kill his best diabolist, leave him with only one left. He could have found out about the others trying to look into it.”

“No,” I responded. “Melissa didn’t mention anyone living long enough to be interrogated. Even if someone did, how would they know about Donald Tyler? The man was already in trouble for getting involved with trading diabolism supplies. I doubt contact between the various groups handling the circles was allowed. No, he knew something beforehand about this. So I do want him unbalanced enough to consider a deal.”

“Or considering stabbing us all in our sleep,” Tolman growled.

What could I say in response? I thought he probably wouldn’t do that? The reason is that Intelligence wouldn’t protect an asset, hurting the efforts to keep a Hellgate from being opened in the city? That would lead into an explanation of why I thought Versalicci was Imperial Intelligence’s, and the straightforward counter that I didn’t have any actual evidence it was Intelligence Versalicci had talked to.

That meant Intelligence would strike back against any efforts of Versalicci anyway, but that was cold comfort if others were hurt. In someways the ideal outcome would have been him getting too angry to think, then me killing him when he ordered our deaths.

And other questions swirled in my mind too. Why let us go? Why come here himself? Why even engage in this deal at all, when he’d been happy to let the possibility of my turning that information over exist this entire time? Why not before, when he’d known who I was?

Why had my cautious, paranoid brother ever left me alive?