Hilario stifled a groan. Of course it was. That was the normal way of things for him. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
“Why were you bringing us here, then?” he said.
“Do you honestly think I expected you to get this far?” she asked.
Good point.
“Hilario,” Larry said, “Something-a…it-a happening.”
Hilario swiveled back. Beyond the windshield, the doors of the candy-cane striped gate slowly swung open. The narrow lane ran straight toward the quaint little village at the base of the tall, black tower.
The steep roofed houses were like something out of a Bavarian village. All they needed was smoke curling from there red brick chimneys.
But there was no smoke. Just dim yellow light coming from their many windows.
The gate finished swinging open. The implication was clear. Drive on in.
To what, though?
He swung back to his glum magical passengers.
Queezleyan sat curled at the Sapphire Witch’s feet. The creature lifted a scaled eyebrow at him.
At the back of the van Odom the Paladin sat cross legged, his wrists resting on his knees. His pose was, of course, heroic and noble. His sapphire blue eyes met Hilario’s.
“What do you know of this place?” he asked the metal giant.
A frown flickered over his face.
“I shall not draw my sword here,” Odom said.
Hilario’s chest tightened. Oh dear.
“Why not?” he said.
Odom shook his bald head. “The Paladin have a pact with the…master of this realm. We shall commit no violence against the folk here.”
“You’re weak,” the Sapphire Witch said, “He doesn’t have that much power.”
“You are wrong, my lady,” Odom said, “But you may test your theory if you wish.”
The Sapphire Witch turned her face away, her cheeks flushing.
The tightness in Hilario’s chest turned to gut churning fear. What could scare a Paladin and a Gem Witch?
He racked his mind, trying to find something about the Ice Realm. He couldn’t come up with anything. It was as if the realm had come into existence, fully formed, just the other day.
But the Ice Realm was one of the oldest layers of the unseen world. It may have dated back to the time of the old ones. And all he knew about it was…it was cold there.
“Who am I going to find there?” Hilario said.
Marco moved up. “Just a second,” he said, “This is the place that bitch sent my sister, right?”
Hilario flicked a glance at the Sapphire Witch. Who seemed to take no obvious offense at Marco’s insult. Maybe she didn’t realize it was her the detective was talking about.
Yeah, right.
“This is it, right?” Marco said, “She said she sent Rachel to the Ice Realm. Right?”
“Yes, this–” Hilario started to say.
“Then get going, clown,” Marco said, “There’s houses there. Maybe they took her in. Maybe Rachel’s still alive.”
Hilario’s stomach did a little flip flop.
It was possible. He hadn’t expected there to be a city at the Eye of Malachi here. Perhaps there actually was a chance Rachel was alive.
Marco pounded Hilario’s shoulder with his fist. “Come on, you idiot,” Marco said, “Drive! Let’s go find her!”
Hilario looked to Odom and the Lady Sapphire.
“Who is the lord of this realm?” he asked.
Odom sighed and stared down at his feet.
“They call him…Sinzerklaazz,” he said.
47
The van rattled and coughed down the narrow lane between the Bavarian village style houses.
The houses were white, with thick brown timbers criss-crossing their faces. The steeply peaked roofs were bare of snow. Their tall, red chimneys as cold as the ice between the houses.
The van dwarfed the houses, though.
They appeared to be about a third the size of human houses. As he drove by, he could easily look into the second story windows. They were on the same level as the van’s windows.
The yellow light in the house’s windows turned out to be candles. Each window facing the street had a dozen or more candles flickering in it. Hilario couldn’t glimpse anyone behind the candles though. The rooms behind the flickering flames were bare, falling to darkness away from the candle’s light.
“Fricking creepy,” Detective Marco said.
The detective had his face up between the seats. There was still a lingering scent of Sea Terror slime on the detective. That, mixed with the man’s musky cologne, was enough to make Hilario roll the window down a bit more.
Which let in icy air and more tantalizing, mouth-watering scents of freshly baked sugar cookies and peppermint candy canes.
Hilario’s stomach growled and rumbled, protesting the teasing odors.
He told it to shut up. Whatever was making the divine smells was probably some horrible, evil monster, just waiting to destroy them.
That’s how things usually worked in the unseen world.
The narrow lane made straight for the black tower at the end of the town. He craned his neck up.
This was by far the biggest Eye of Malachi tower he’d ever seen. It dwarfed the one in the Gem Realm. Hundreds of feet high, it was smooth and featureless for most of its length. An imposing cylinder capped at the top with what appeared to be a gigantic clear crystal.
So far they hadn’t seen a single creature or entity.
Not counting the ice worm.
The strange little Bavarian village seemed deserted.
But who had lit all those candles?
“I don’t like this,” Marco said.
“I don’t-a either-a,” Larry said, “We should-a turn-a round-a.”
“Fuck that, you cheating piece of shit,” Marco said, “We gotta find Rachel.”
Hilario spared a glance at Larry.
The ghostly figure trembled. He wrapped his arms around himself. His eyes wide and darting back and forth.
What was Larry hiding?
Hilario cleared his throat.
“What do you think, Master Odom, Lady Sapphire?” he said, “Should we turn back?
He looked to the rearview mirror. Odom the Paladin still sat cross legged in the bake. His pose was still noble,
