Cloak of Titans by Jonathan Moeller

Author:Jonathan Moeller [Moeller, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub

A little before 10 PM, Victoria stood before the building in question.

It was like many others in this part of Venice – built of red brick, four stories tall, with a peaked roof. It was under heavy renovation. Most of the window frames had been ripped out, plywood screwed in their place, and considerable portions of the brick façade had been replaced.

Victoria watched the house, listening. Her formal office wear had been replaced with black jeans, black running shoes, and a light black jacket that was just loose enough to conceal a small semiautomatic pistol and the sheathed crystalline dagger clipped to her tactical belt. Victoria had used her bloodmorphing spell to allow her to see better in the dark and to hear more keenly. Quite a few noises came to her ears – the endless splashing of the water in the canals, the distant pounding of the surf, the parties in the city’s various clubs and drinking establishments.

From the house in front of her, she heard nothing but the creak of a settling building.

Victoria climbed up the steps to the front door and tried the handle.

It was unlocked, and she slipped through it and closed the door behind her.

Still no one moved.

Her modified eyes adjusted to the darkness within the house. It was easy to see why the building was under renovation. Venice was constantly at war with the sea, in danger of drowning in the very lagoon that had helped create the city, and every building was at risk of foundation problems and water damage. Had Victoria not spent so much time here in Vashtyr’s service, she never would have purchased a building here since the maintenance costs were so high.

About half the floorboards were ripped up, and all the plaster had been stripped off the walls. Contractor’s plastic had been taped over the doors to the interior rooms, and in the distance, further down the front hall, Victoria spotted the glow of a work light.

The light kept shifting. Someone was moving around near it.

Victoria strode forward in silence, taking care with her footing on the damaged floor, her hands close to her pistol and dagger, her mind ready to summon magic and cast a spell.

The hall ended in a half-remodeled kitchen. All the appliances had been pulled out, and a single plastic folding table sat in the center of the room, holding a sheath of architectural drawings and the single illuminated work light. There was some beautiful tile work on the walls where the sink and the stove had been, and the part of Victoria’s mind that had allowed her to make a lot of money in commercial real estate hoped the contractors preserved the tile.

Most of her mind was focused on the cloaked and hooded figure standing on the other side of the plastic table.

They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds.

“Well, you summoned me,” said Victoria. “Here I am. Though if you wanted to chat, it’s more traditional to do it over tea.

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