With another wave of his hand, the portal wrapped itself around us, disappearing the garden.
SEVENTEEN
We arrived inside our office.
I waited a few beats for the agony to commence and…nothing. Peaches roamed off to our reception sofa and performed a magnificent sprawl, taking up half the sofa. Several seconds later, he started snoring.
“Did Ezra just Yoda me?” I asked when I felt the rush of warmth flood my body, healing my recent injuries. “He totally Yoda’d me.”
“I have no idea what you’re referring to,” Monty said, pulling out some books from our library. “We need to research this Earth’s Breath artifact. I have to contact the Professor.”
“Ziller?”
“Is there another Professor we know that could have information on an ancient artifact belonging to the Red Mountain?”
“Good point,” I said. “Hey, my body isn’t in agony. Maybe you can take some portal classes with Ezra?”
“Or maybe you’re just finally accepting you aren’t a normal any longer.”
The words hung in the air for a few seconds.
“It’s because Kali cursed me,” I answered after a pause. “This was beyond my control.”
“Irrelevant,” Monty answered without looking up from a book. “The cause doesn’t change the outcome. The curse has made you different. You aren’t normal. I suspect you were abnormal even before Kali touched you.”
“Oh, ha ha,” I answered. “There’s that cutting British humor. The hilarity is killing me—figuratively.”
“Why don’t you make yourself useful and see if there have been any reports or sightings of this golem,” Monty said, ignoring my comment. “Maybe call the NYTF or the Dark Council? Hmm?”
The New York Task Force, or NYTF, was a quasi-military police force, created to deal with any supernatural event occurring in New York City.
If anyone had any idea about the golem, it would be them or the Dark Council. But without Chi currently leading the Dark Council I was reluctant to reach out to them on account of they actively had plans to kill me and Peaches, and Monty.
On our visit to Japan, Chi had told me it was mostly a bluff. The small army that had descended on our location downtown said otherwise. Someone in the Dark Council wanted to retire the Montague and Strong Detective Agency—permanently.
The NYTF were paid to deal with the things that couldn’t be explained to the general public without causing mass hysteria. They were led by Angel Ramirez, who was one of the best directors the NYTF had ever had, and still, surprisingly, my friend. We had a history. Most of it good, some of it bad, and a small amount classified. It was keeping Angel in the dark about that last part that kept him safe—and alive.
Since our skirmish downtown with the Dark Council Enforcers, and then an emergency trip to Japan, Angel and I hadn’t spoken. I didn’t look forward to the call. He was usually pissed—with good reason. Although this time, we had nothing to do with this golem.
“Good idea,” I said. “Right after a cup of Deathwish to fuel my brain.”
“For once, you’ve made a sensible suggestion.”
“You’re going to drink coffee?” I asked, surprised. “You’ve finally come to your senses. Took you long enough.”
Monty looked up, and glared.
“Don’t be daft,” he snapped. “Kindly put the kettle on to boil. I could use a strong cuppa.”
I headed to the kitchen when my phone rang.
“Speaking of the NYTF,” I said, looking down at the number and wincing. “Ramirez.”
“Perfect,” Monty said, his face buried in a book again. “See what he wants. Maybe he has a location for this creature. That would save us time.”
I connected the call.
“Angel,” I said, keeping my voice light. “How are you?”
“How am I? How am I?” Angel answered, his voice escalating with every syllable. “I’ll tell you how I am!”
I put the phone on speaker to prevent him from blowing out my eardrum.
“Take a breath, Director.”
“Don’t ‘take a breath’ me, Strong. Do not…tell me…to take a breath.”
“Fine, stop breathing. Don’t blame me when you pass out.”
“Just out of curiosity,” Angel asked, “when did you two get back?”
“What makes you think we were away?”
“The peace and quiet that descends on my city whenever you, your mage, and that oversized canine you call a pet are away, makes me think that has been the case.”
“Whatever it is,” I started, “we don’t have anything—”
“Somehow you’re connected. Don’t try to bullshit me, Strong. I have reports of a large stone creature destroying everything in its path…in my city.”
“Like I said, we don’t have—”
“And then just out of pure coincidence I call to see if your detective agency is in the city, and what do you know? You’re open for business! Imagine the odds.”
“Did you say a large stone creature?” I asked, ignoring the mostly baselessly accusatory tone of his voice. “Are the attacks arbitrary?”
“Actually, no,” Angel said, after releasing a long sigh. “That’s just the general press release. So far it’s only attacking at night; we’re mixing that with gas leaks and faulty wiring where we can, and deflecting everywhere else.”
“That won’t last very long.”
“Word on the magical street is that your mage summoned this thing.”
“What do you think?” I asked, letting my voice get hard. “Is that what you think?”
“I think it’s dangerous to my city and the people in it. Your mage has done some crazy shit in the past, but nothing this crazy.”
“Monty didn’t summon it.”
“Does he know who did?”
“We have some leads we are following. I’ll definitely keep you in the loop.”
Ramirez groaned on the other end, and I could picture him rubbing his hand down his face.
“You do that, Strong,” Ramirez said. “Before the city is on the verge of destruction, not after you’ve blown half of it to bits.”
“Will do,” I said, having no intention of getting Ramirez or the NYTF involved in facing a golem. “Can you get me a list of the areas attacked or destroyed?”
“Sure,” he said, hitting some keys on his computer. “Maybe you’ll have better luck than we did. My analysts can’t make heads or tails out of the locations being targeted.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
“Oh,
