Cauldron: A novella from the Shadow Council Archives (Joe Mack Book 1) by Gail Z. Martin & Larry N. Martin

Author:Gail Z. Martin & Larry N. Martin [Martin, Gail Z. & Martin, Larry N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Falstaff Books
Published: 2019-07-14T22:00:00+00:00

5

“I thought diner coffee was supposed to be good.” I glared at the sludge in the heavy ceramic cup.

“Probably got the bottom of the pot again,” West replied with a shrug, and finished his, setting aside his cup for a refill.

“I miss having these meetings in bars,” I grumbled. There was a lot that changed since Prohibition went into effect, but sometimes I missed the bars themselves more than the alcohol.

“Didn’t think Ben’s was the place for this discussion.” West managed a distracted “thank you” to the waitress who refilled his cup, rather than his usual charm. “So…tell me what happened at the Countess’s big party.”

West listened with unusual patience as I told him about the event. He didn’t interrupt once, which for West must have been a personal best. “So you’re sure the guy claiming he was Rasputin was a vamp. But was he really Rasputin?”

I’d been asking myself that question all night. “Maybe. It’s possible. If not, they picked a perfect actor.” I frowned, remembering the way the man could sway a crowd. “But my gut says it’s really him. You should have seen how he had everyone eating out of his hand. I don’t know whether it was magic, or vamp glamour, or—”

“Charisma,” West said. “Rasputin had it in spades. Every account says that he was an ugly man, looked like a vagrant, and didn’t smell good. But as soon as he started to talk, it was like everyone was mesmerized, like he’d cast a spell on them.”

“Yeah. Only I’d know if he’d done magic, and he didn’t. At least, not any kind of magic I’m familiar with.”

“Rasputin’s enemies said he’d made a pact with the devil,” West said off-handedly, stirring sugar into his coffee. “Could he be a demon?”

“I’m usually pretty good at picking up on sulfur,” I replied. “And I didn’t notice any. Let’s not make this more complicated than it is already. Rasputin is back as a vampire, with some squirrelly conspiracy that requires raising a lot of money from moonstruck swells. And while the local vamps don’t like the Russians, they’re cooperating, probably because they figure they’ll get a piece of the action. So we’ve got Imperialist vampires—”

“And Leninist werewolves,” West said in a tone that let me know he was wishing his coffee had a slug of whiskey. “I guess that makes sense, in a weird sort of way. The vamps and the shifters almost always end up on opposite sides—lucky for us.”

“I still think there’s a piece we’re missing.” I toyed with the handle of my cup, unsure my stomach would survive much more of the bitter drink. “Something big. If Clyde’s wolves didn’t scare off the Countess and Rasputin, she hinted about another event and a big surprise.”

“If it really is Rasputin, wolves won’t scare him. Rumor has it he controlled werewolves with his dark arts back in Russia.”

“He was a witch?” That added a whole new angle.

“Hard to say. He had plenty of enemies because of how connected he was to the Tsar and Tsarina.

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