02 - The Invoker by Jon F. Merz

Author:Jon F. Merz
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-one

I called Petrov's number as soon as we cleared the mansion. I got a polite message informing me that the service had been disconnected. That figured.

Wirek stowed the guns in the trunk of the Volvo. "We should get going."

"Time's wasting, huh?"

He shrugged. "Figuring travel time to get to where we need to be? Oh, yeah."

I sighed. "This school, the Invoker academy or whatever you call it—you know where it is?"

"Sure."

I wasn't convinced. "I mean exactly, Wirek. The Himalayas are a lot of ground to cover. We can't just drop in over there and spend six days dicking around."

"I can find it. It's been years since I visited, but I think my memory is still pretty sharp."

“All right. How much prep time do you figure we need?''

"We'll need some gear," said Wirek.

"Yeah. My house first, then yours. We can grab a taxi to the airport from there."

We drove back to my place and quickly cleaned the guns before stowing them back in the safe. I would have loved to bring them along, but they were obviously out. I can carry a gun through most security checkpoints because I know how the security works—or rather doesn't work. But I'd never been to Nepal before and I didn't want to risk a search that would flag us and alert Arvella we were on scene.

Fortunately, in my line of work, I have other weapons I can use besides firearms. Downstairs in my basement, I unlocked the antique wooden chest my ancestors carted their carpentry tools from Germany in. I'd put the tools into other chests over the years. Now I keep my treasured belongings in the ornate chest.

Unwrapping the handmade wooden bokken that had been carved for me some years back by a famous weaponsmith in Japan brought out a flood of memories. The pure hardwood lignum vitae gleamed in the dim light as my mind flashed back to when I'd used it to kill my oldest enemy, Cosgrove, just a few months previously.

Now I was getting ready to use it again.

Some things never change.

I unwrapped the folded steel tanto as well, another gift from the same weaponsmith. I laid both the bokken and the tanto into my long luggage bag.

I packed some winter gear, not knowing how potentially bad the weather might be in Nepal. Wirek assured me it might actually be temperate over there, but I've learned to go with my instinct and felt we might need the extra warmth.

Finally, I dropped a note in the mail to my neighbor so she could check in and feed Mimi and Phoebe while I was gone.

We zoomed back to Wirek's place and he grabbed some supplies as well. I saw him covertly stow his hip flask in his carry-on bag. I hoped he wouldn't be drinking himself silly on the flight over.

"You ready?"

He nodded. "What about the Council?"

"What about 'em?"

"You planning on telling them where we're headed?"

"Hell, no. If Arvella has any allies, they'd alert her. I don't want her knowing we're coming until we're already there.

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