I stood there a moment, breathing heavy, trying not to gag at the smell of the beast’s blood. Powerful stuff, but it stank worse than a London sewer in summer. I pulled a leather flask from within my coat, and with a thought the blood flowed off me and into it.
You can use the teeth as well, said a deep voice in my head as I corked the flask.
I snorted a laugh. Not a peep out of you when the beast charged, but now you worry about collecting its teeth? I reached down and picked up the head by its shaggy hair. Good to know my well-being remains a high priority, Vex.
Must you call me that, Aleister?
I’d asked his name a thousand times since he’d come wailing out of the ether into my mind over a decade ago. Well, if you told me your real name, I might use it.
He remained vexingly silent.
Typical.
I started back down the ridge as evening approached, further limiting visibility through the gloom of the blowing snow. The wind bit through my leather climbing clothes and I whispered a warming spell. Keeping the fifth gate open so long had begun to tax me, and the added spell work drained strength from my limbs. I needed to get back to camp.
About halfway back, a peculiar sight materialized out of the storm. A man in formal dress, complete with top hat and monocle, wore a large furred overcoat draped across his shoulders that made him look more bear than man. He watched me, one hand on his hat against the wind, the other resting primly on his cane. To top it off, not a single snowflake landed on him.
He straightened as I approached and tipped his hat in greeting. "Crude, but effective. Good work, Agent Crowley,” the man called to me. His shoes left not a single impression in the snow as he walked toward me. “The residents of Zermatt will thank you for slaying such a bothersome beast.”
Bothersome. Nearly fifty dead because of the yeti, and he calls it bothersome?
“Julian Baker,” I shouted over the wind.
He offered his hand to shake.
I looked at it and decided to ignore it. The corners of his delicate mustache drooped as the smile slid from his face. I smirked and said, “Why the bloody hell did you come here dressed like that?”
2
Upon the Mountainside
They sent me to monitor your progress.” Julian stood over us twirling his mustache as Matteo and I tended the fire and cooked dinner. We set our camp against the wall of the mountain. It sloped forward, giving us a bit of protection from the wind. Julian had spelled the area to keep the blizzard out, and we had a wall of snow several feet high around us already.
“Naturally.” I said, scowling at him and stirring the soup. “The Archmage should banish me from the ranks and be done with it. I’m tired of these far-flung missions he keeps sending me on.”
“He would, if he could get the Synod to agree to it.” Julian chuckled. “They might be stuffy old men, but they still have some sense.”
“Really?” I spooned up a lump of potato and held it out for Matteo to try. He chewed, then shook his head. “A first time for everything, I suppose. I thought the other Knight Mages wanted my head after the Black Forest.”
“You should be thankful, especially after what happened in the Black Forest.”
“I assure you of the necessity of my actions in the Black Forest,” I said, grinding my teeth. “The centaurs planned to march on the loggers. While I understand their status as a threatened species, only their deaths could keep those loggers safe. No ready explanation existed otherwise. An incident of that magnitude held the potential to draw worldwide attention and expose the existence of the supernatural.”
“Those centaurs might have lived if you’d followed the Archmage’s wishes from the start,” Julian said, his words colder than the ice around us.
I hated the truth of those words. The Archmage personally sent me as diplomatic envoy to the German Guild of Mages to quell the unrest among the centaur herd. I couldn’t stand by and watch as the loggers worked to destroy the centaurs’ age-old home, so I used my magic and tricks to frighten the workers. But I didn’t count on the tenacity of the foreman. He offered double pay to anyone willing to brave the haunted wood. His new crew started work early the next morning, and by the time I arrived, I couldn’t reason with the centaurs. No other choice remained.
“I couldn’t let them lose their home,” I said quietly. “I thought I could protect both the humans and the centaurs.”
“For that, I respect you,” he said, catching me by surprise. “You chose a risky course of action, one certain to cause backlash, and you acted decisively to prevent a larger catastrophe. I applaud you, sir.”
Julian clapped, and I looked up. He sat in a winged leather armchair.
I’d not felt him cast the spell. “How the bloody hell—”
He raised an eyebrow, amusement in his eyes.
I looked back down at our soup, determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing me rattled. The leather creaked as Julian stood and came to stand by the fire. Matteo eyed him suspiciously but said nothing. It surprised me how well the reedy man accepted Mr. Baker’s aberrations. But I supposed Julian seemed normal after facing a yeti.
“You and I have never seen eye-to-eye,
